The linear and nonlinear melt viscoelastic properties for a series of carbon black-filled polymer composites were studied. Complementary tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies were used to examine the dispersion and structural correlations of the filler particles in these composites. The low-frequency dependence of the linear viscoelastic moduli gradually changes from liquidlike behavior for the unfilled polymer to pseudosolid character for composites with more than 9 vol % carbon black filler. The plateau modulus, inferred from the linear viscoelastic response, exhibits a somewhat discontinuous change at about 9 vol % filler. On the basis of the linear viscoelastic response, we postulate that the carbon black filler forms a continuous percolated network structure beyond 9 vol % filler, considerably lower than that expected from theoretical calculations for overlapping spheres and ellipsoids. We suggest that the lower threshold for percolation is due to the polymer mediation of the filler structure, resulting from the low functionality of the polymer and, consequently, few strong polymer-filler interactions, allowing for long loops and tails that can either bridge filler particles or entangle with one another. Furthermore, the strain amplitude for the transition from linear behavior to nonlinear behavior of the modulus for the composites with greater than 9 vol % filler is independent of frequency, and this critical strain amplitude decreases with increasing filler concentration. Complementary AFM measurements suggest a well-dispersed carbon black structure with the nearest neighbor distance showing a discontinuous decrease at about 9 vol % filler, again consistent with the formation of a filler network structure beyond 9 vol % carbon black. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.