Modifying the Properties of Polyethylene Electrets through the Incorporation of Montmorillonite

Polyethylene (PE) composites containing montmorillonite are studied. The incorporation of nanoparticulate montmorillonite into the polymer is shown to affect its electret, electric, and rheological properties. We find that the observed enhancement in the electret properties of PE samples containing 2 or 4 vol % of the filler is related to changes in the chemical structure (namely, oxygen-containing functional groups are formed in PE macromolecules as a result of mechanochemical destruction) and the electric and dielectric properties of PE itself, but the emergence of new type of traps for injected charge carriers at the polymer-filler interface has a greater contribution to the observed effect.