Regularities of microstrain of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene modified with halloysite additives

The effect of additives of 1 and 3 wt % of halloysite on the rate and small jumps of deformation under uniaxial compression of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene was investigated. A procedure for precision interference measurement with a resolution of 325 nm for displacement and 1 kHz for frequency enabled the detection of several levels of deformation in the micro- and nanometer ranges. The addition of halloysite results in a decrease in the strain rate under the same loading conditions and a change in the characteristics of the strain jumps. Calorimetric measurements showed that melting of polyethylene with a different concentration of halloysite causes a change in the transition energy and the degree of crystallinity.