Mechanism of shear-induced exfoliation and clay network in polypropylene/layered silicate nanocomposites

In this review, some valuable results about polypropylene/layered silicate nanocompsites in our group have been briefly depicted. These research subjects involve; 1) mechanism of shear-induced morphological development and exfoliation of layered clay particles during practical molten compounding; 2) effect of mesoscopic clay network on the retarded motion and relaxation of polymer macromolecular chains, and on the macroscopic properties of nanocomposites; 3) unique hierarchical structure of dispersion and orientation in the injection-molded bars obtained via dynamic packing injection molding, which would exert oscillatory shear on the melt of composite during solidification and cooling stage.