A House of Cards Structure in Polypropylene/Clay Nanocomposites under Elongational Flow

Abstract

This Letter describes the first real space observation for the formation of a house of cards structure in polypropylene/clay nanocomposite melt under elongational flow by TEM analysis. Both strong strain-induced hardening and rheopexy features are originated from the perpendicular alignment of the silicate layers to the stretching direction.