The rheological behavior of composites made with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and chitosan was studied. Composites were prepared by melt processing in a laboratory internal mixer. Maleic anhydride grafted HDPE (PE-g-MA) was used as compatibilizer to enhance the dispersion of chitosan in the HDPE matrix. Different percentages of chitosan and compatibilizer (up to a maximum of 25 phr) were added into HDPE to prepare composites. Characterization of the composites with parallel plate rheometer and laboratory internal mixer revealed that the presence of chitosan increases the complex viscosity, loss modulus, storage modulus and the torque (i.e., melt viscosity), and the combination chitosan/compatibilizer has a similar, if slighter, effect. At higher filler levels it is clear that the PE-g-MA affected the microstructure of the compounds, possibly increasing matrix–filler interactions and acting as an effective compatibilizer.

Wide angle X-ray powder diffraction data from unoriented and uniaxially oriented films of high-density polyethylene were analyzed by the Rietveld whole pattern profile fitting technique. A Voigt function was used to model the profile and extract crystallographic information such as the unit cell dimensions, crystallite size and strain, and degree of orientation. The analysis revealed that the technique was efficient in providing not only accurate unit cell dimensions without an internal standard, but also crystallite size and strain information. The oriented films were also successfully modeled with this technique.