Dependence of the physicochemical properties of filled polymer systems on the nature of the polymer-filler bond

Abstract The effect of polymer-filler interaction of the morphology, strength properties, and the viscoelastic and thermomechanical behaviour of filled polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, and a copolymer of styrene and acrylonitrile is studied. An explanation is given for the increased rigidity of compositions when there is a chemical bond between the polymer and inorganic phase, from the point of view of the formation of pseudo-crosslinked systems. It is shown that the density of the pseudo-network can be controlled by controlling the thickness of the grafted layer on the filler particles and the ratio of the solid inorganic phase on the grafted and ungrafted polymer matrices.