Interactions in the system polyethylene-solid filler

Investigation of overall crystallization rate in polyethylene and its composites with solid fillers has shown the nucleation activity of talc and kaolin. Surface modification of an inert filler made it possible to change the filler to a nucleation-active one. Morphological examination of fracture surfaces, ultrathin films, and free surfaces of filled samples proved that polyethylene crystallizes on basal planes of sheet silicates (talc and kaolin) epitaxially in such a way that a system of parallel lamellae, oriented perpendicular to the basal plane of the substrate, grows out from the filler surface. Epitaxial lamellae tend to be aligned in a pseudohexagonal array, suggesting that polyethylene lamellar crystals nucleate along rows of equally charged ions in the basal plane of sheet silicates.