Aging in a filled polymer: coherent small angle x-ray and light scattering

Measurements are described using small angle coherent x-ray scattering and small angle dynamic light scattering of motion in fumed silica aggregates suspended in a poly(dimethyl siloxane) melt. At rest, this system develops weakly bound superstructures that are disrupted by mechanical stirring or thermal treatment. The observed relaxation rates correspond to a combination of liquidlike diffusion and a structural relaxation (flocculation) whereby the diffusing silica aggregates recombine into larger agglomerates at long times. Both processes are diffusion controlled. Two samples are investigated. The first, in which the silica is hydrophilic, is a highly viscous liquid for which the respective rate coefficients are about 5x10(-14) cm(2) s(-1) and 2x10(-15) cm(2) s(-1). The second sample, in which the silica surface is hydrophobic, is a thixotropic paste. The same aging mechanism in the diffusion is also observed, but with much slower rate constants, 2x10(-15) cm(2) s(-1) and 9x10(-16) cm(2) s(-1), respectively.