In this thesis we report the change in the orientation of the polymer lamellae and clay platelets from a PE-Nanocomposite film to that in the pressed composite sample, when a number of such films are hot pressed to form a pressed sample (strip), about 5 mm in thickness. Small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) was used to compare the quantitative and qualitative information regarding the structure and orientation of these structures in the film and the pressed strip.
It was observed that the polymer lamellar normals in the composite film which were oriented in the MD get oriented in the ND in the pressed film sample. Diffraction studies carried out on both the samples show that the clay platelet normals for the film samples show a stronger orientation in the ND than for the pressed film sample.
The tensile properties of the PE-Nanocomposite pressed sample (strip) and that of the Polyethylene (HDPE) film pressed sample (strip) was measured using an instron tensile machine and the values compared. The composite showed an increase in the modulus as compared to that observed in the virgin HDPE sample.