The effect of graphene nanoplatelets on the complex viscocity of high density polyethylene

In this paper, we investigated the rheological properties of high density polyethylene (HDPE) based composites filled with different amounts of graphene nanoplatelets. The composites samples were prepared in the form of films by the method of melt mixing. A parallel-plate rheometer was used to measure the rheology properties, including the complex viscosity, storage modulus and viscous modulus. The LVE range of all the samples was determined firstly, and then we studied the rheological properties of pure HDPE and graphene/HDPE composites. The effect of graphene content on the rheological properties of the graphene/HDPE composites at 150 °C was especially investigated. The results showed that the complex viscosity of the graphene/HDPE composites was decreased and then increased with increasing the content of graphene from 0.25 to 1.0wt%. However, increased graphene content did not exhibit distinct effect on storage modulus and viscous modulus of graphene/HDPE composites.