Study of Water Diffusion in PE-SiO2 Nanocomposites by Dielectric Spectroscopy

In recent years, researchers have extensively investigated polymers filled with inorganic nanoparticles because these materials present improved physical properties relative to those of conventional unfilled polymers. Oxides, silica in particular, are the most commonly used inorganic particles because they possess good properties and can be fabricated at a low cost. However, oxides are hydrophilic in nature, and this leads to the presence of water at the interface between the nanoparticles and the polymer matrix. Due to the predominance of particle-matrix interfaces in nanocomposites, the presence of water at the interlayer region can be problematic. Moreover, the hydrophobic nature of most polymers, particularly for polyolefins such as polyethylene, may make it difficult to remove this interfacial water. In this paper, as-received and moistened samples of agglomerated nanosilica/polyethylene were dried using an isothermal treatment at $60^{\circ}C$, and the efficacy of this treatment was studied using dielectric spectroscopy. The Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars relaxation peaks were observed to shift to lower frequencies by three decades, and this was linked to a modification of the water content, due to drying, at the interfaces between silica and polyethylene and at the interfaces within the nanosilica agglomerates. The evolution of the extracted retardation time is explained by the nanosilica hydrophily and the free volume introduced by the nanoparticles.