Monitoring the Production of Polymer Nanocomposites by Melt Compounding with On-line Rheometry

Abstract

Polymer nanocomposites are often prepared by melt compounding due to the suitability of the latter to industrial scale production. Even though monitoring the production process for quality control and/or optimization purposes is generally done off-line, the possibility of using on-line oscillatory rheometry has many inherent advantages. This work illustrates the use of a prototype rheometer to monitor the production of polymer nanocomposites by making measurements at specific locations along the extruder axis. The device is presented and its operation is explained. Examples of its use to characterize polypropylene and polyamide matrix nanocomposites with organoclays and carbon nanotubes are discussed, thus demonstrating the usefulness of the device.

In‐process rheological monitoring of extrusion‐based polymer processes

“…Figure 6(c) describes the operating sequence, which involves material sampling and loading, temperature equilibration and measurement. The instrument was experimentally validated and used to monitor, in terms of the rheological moduli, the manufacture of immiscible and compatibilized blends 73 and polymer/organoclay nanocomposites, 75,76 as illustrated in Fig. 7.…”

“…Monitoring (in terms of G ' and G ") the manufacture of PA6/8.3 wt% clay nanocomposites with the O2R on‐line rheometer. (a) Effect of screw speed; (b) evolution along the extruder 75 …”

Extension‐dominated improved dispersive mixing in single‐screw extrusion. Part 2: Comparative analysis with twin‐screw extruder

“…Mixing can be controlled through the choice of mixing geometry present on the screws of the extruder. [6][7][8][9][10][11] The most commonly used extruders include singlescrew extruders (SSE), which are poor mixing devices but allow for large throughputs, and intermeshing co-rotating twin-screw extruder (Co-TSE), which are very good mixing devices but at a penalty in throughput. Co-TSEs have become one of the most widely applied equipments for the purposes of effective mixing of polymeric components and fillers, stemming from their modularity, ease of use, and range of scales.…”

“…Dispersive mixing involves breakup of the component present in the polymer matrix, whereas spatial distribution of the components through the major phase is distributive mixing. Mixing can be controlled through the choice of mixing geometry present on the screws of the extruder 6–11 …”

Real-time thermo-optical analysis of polymer samples by quantitative polarized optical microscopy

“…Indeed, the authors have been dedicated to the development and application of in-line rheo-optical techniques for material/process characterization, process optimization and quality control. Optical, spectroscopic and rheometric techniques (e.g., in-line measurements at the die during extrusion and compounding) were presented [11][12][13].…”