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Online light scattering measurements: A method to assess morphology development of polymer blends in a twin‐screw extruder
Author(s) -
Schlatter G.,
Serra C.,
Bouquey M.,
Muller R.,
Terrisse J.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.11089
Subject(s) - materials science , plastics extrusion , light scattering , scattering , extrusion , composite material , polymer , micrometer , dynamic light scattering , particle (ecology) , polymer blend , static light scattering , multiangle light scattering , nanometre , optics , nanotechnology , nanoparticle , copolymer , oceanography , physics , geology
Light scattering has proved itself an efficient technique to determine particle diameters in heterogeneous dilute dispersions in the micrometer range. Extrusion of polymer blends is expected to give rise to very small particles, typically in the range from hundreds of nanometers to tens of micrometers. A light scattering device developed in our laboratory has been used to study the morphology of polymer blends obtained in a twin‐screw extruder. The main advantage of this technique is the immediate response obtained without any surface or interface modification that can occur during the sample preparation by using more conventional techniques like electron microscopy. To show the possible applications of this light scattering device, preliminary tests have been carried out. First, we present a comparison between experimental measurements and theoretical results for dilute systems. Second, we have investigated the effect of shear flow on the droplet deformation. Finally, we have studied the variations of the light scattering pattern for a reactive blend.