Polypropylene(PP)/polystyrene(PS)/clay composites were prepared by melt blending at 160℃ to investigate the dispersion of clay in the immiscible blend system.The results show that the preferential intercalation phenomenon of clay occur in the immiscible PP/PS blend

as evidenced by wide angle Xray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).Independing on the proportion of PS components and its feeding modes

PS chains intercalate preferentially into clay layers.PP and PS components show different dependence of melt viscosity on temperature

as confirmed by capillary rheological analysis and advanced rheological expansion system (ARES) measurements.PS has higher viscous flow activation energy

which means its melt viscosity is more sensitive to the processing temperature.Based on different dependence of melt viscosity on temperature between PP and PS

the effects of melt viscosity on the preferential intercalation behavior of clay were investigated via changing the processing temperatures.The clay platelets gradually transferred from PS phase to PP phase with increasing processing temperature.The results combining TEM and ARES suggest that the preferential intercalation behavior of clay is determined by the difference between the viscosity of the two components.Furthermore

the higher viscosity of component

the stronger shear stress during the compounding process

it consequently results in stronger capabilities of intercalation.