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Influence of Screw Profile Employed During Melt Mixing on the Micro‐scale Dispersion of MWCNT s in Poly(propylene)
Author(s) -
Mayoral Beatriz,
Garrett Graham,
McNally Tony
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201300172
Subject(s) - materials science , agglomerate , mixing (physics) , dispersion (optics) , composite material , plastics extrusion , economies of agglomeration , residence time distribution , chemical engineering , mineralogy , optics , inclusion (mineral) , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
The relationship between MWCNT dispersion and agglomerate size with the screw profile employed during mixing of MWCNTs and a PP in a twin‐screw extruder is investigated. Five screw configurations are designed based on an initial concept of forward conveying and kneading block elements and varying a number of other elements. A screw profile having a toothed mixing element and one reverse conveying element (S3) after the mixing zone is most effective at breaking down MWCNT primary agglomerates. Addition of a second and third reverse conveying element increases the practical residence time but promotes MWCNT re‐agglomeration. A screw profile with just forward conveying and kneading block elements (S1) yields the most uniform MWCNT dispersion.