The outstanding ability of nanosilica to stabilize dispersions of Nylon 6 droplets in a polypropylene matrix

Rheology of Polymer Processing in Spain (1995-2020)

The contribution of Spanish scientists to the rheology involved in polymer processing during the last 25 years is investigated. It is shown that the performed research covers, at different levels, all industrial polymeric materials: thermoplastics, thermosets, adhesives, biopolymers, composites and nanocomposites, and polymer modified bitumen. Therefore, the rheological behaviour of these materials in processing methods such as extrusion, injection moulding, additive manufacturing, and others is discussed, based on the literature results. A detailed view of the most outstanding achievements, based on the rheological criteria of the authors, is offered.

Cellulose nanofibers reinforced biodegradable polyester blends: Ternary biocomposites with balanced mechanical properties

Blending two biodegradable aliphatic polyesters with complementary bulk properties is an easy way of tuning their final properties. In this work, the ductile poly(butylene succinate) was mixed with polylactide, and as expectable, the blends show improved toughness with sharply reduced strengths. The pristine cellulose nanofibers were then used as the reinforcement for the blends. It is found that most nanofibers are dispersed in the polylactide phase because polylactide has better affinity to nanofibers, and the lower viscosity level of polylactide also favors driving nanofibers into the continuous polylactide phase during melting mixing. In this case, the strength and rigidity losses resulted from the presence of soft poly(butylene succinate) phase are compensated to some extent. To further improve mechanical properties, a two-step approach (reactive processing of blends, followed by the incorporation with nanofibers) was developed. This work provides an interesting way of fabricating fully biodegradable composites with well-balanced mechanical performance.

The Effect of Titanium Dioxide Surface Modification on the Dispersion, Morphology, and Mechanical Properties of Recycled PP/PET/TiO2 PBNANOs

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles have recently appeared in PET waste because of the introduction of opaque PET bottles. We prepare polymer blend nanocomposites (PBNANOs) by adding hydrophilic (hphi), hydrophobic (hpho), and hydrophobically modified (hphoM) titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles to 80rPP/20rPET recycled blends. Contact angle measurements show that the degree of hydrophilicity of TiO₂ decreases in the order hphi > hpho > hphoM. A reduction of rPET droplet size occurs with the addition of TiO₂ nanoparticles. The hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance controls the nanoparticles location. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM_ shows that hphi TiO₂ preferentially locates inside the PET droplets and hpho at both the interface and PP matrix. HphoM also locates within the PP matrix and at the interface, but large loadings (12%) can completely cover the surfaces of the droplets forming a physical barrier that avoids coalescence, leading to the formation of smaller droplets. A good correlation is found between the crystallization rate of PET (determined by DSC) and nanoparticles location, where hphi TiO₂ induces the highest PET crystallization rate. PET lamellar morphology (revealed by TEM) is also dependent on particle location. The mechanical behavior improves in the elastic regime with TiO₂ addition, but the plastic deformation of the material is limited and strongly depends on the type of TiO₂ employed.

The Distribution of Nanoclay Particles at the Interface and Their Influence on the Microstructure Development and Rheological Properties of Reactively Processed Biodegradable Polylactide/Poly(butylene succinate) Blend Nanocomposites

The present work investigates the distribution of nanoclay particles at the interface and their influence on the microstructure development and non-linear rheological properties of reactively processed biodegradable polylactide/poly(butylene succinate) blend nanocomposites. Two types of organoclays, one is more hydrophilic (Cloisite®30B (C30B)) and another one is more hydrophobic (BetsopaTM (BET)), were used at different concentrations. Surface and transmission electron microscopies were respectively used to study the blend morphology evolution and for probing the dispersion and distribution of nanoclay platelets within the blend matrix and at the interface. The results suggested that both organoclays tended to localize at the interface between the blend's two phases and encapsulate the dispersed poly(butylene succinate) phase, thereby suppressing coalescence. Using small angle X-ray scattering the probability of finding neighboring nanoclay particles in the blend matrix was calculated using the Generalized Indirect Fourier Transformation technique. Fourier Transform-rheology was utilized for quantifying nonlinear rheological responses and for correlating the extent of dispersion as well as the blend morphological evolution, for different organoclay loadings. The rheological responses were in good agreement with the X-ray scattering and electron microscopic results. It was revealed that C30B nanoparticles were more efficient in stabilizing the morphologies by evenly distributing at the interface. Nonlinear coefficient from FT-rheology was found to be more pronounced in case of blends filled with C30B, indicating better dispersion of C30B compare with BET which was in agreement with the SAXS results.

Effect of carbon nanotubes on morphology evolution of polypropylene/polystyrene blends: understanding molecular interactions and carbon nanotube migration mechanisms

MWCNT migration among domains in conjunction with viscosity and elastic effects are important factors governing the morphological changes in the PP:PS blend nanocomposites.

Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Biodegradable Polymer Blends Using Tubular Nanoparticle Stitching of the Interfaces

"Green" polymer nanocomposites were made by melt blending biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-butylene terephthalate) (PBAT) with either montmorillonite clays (Cloisite Na(+)), halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), the resorcinol diphenyl phosphate (RDP)-coated Cloisite Na(+), and coated HNTs. A technique for measuring the work of adhesion (Wa) between nanoparticles and their matrixes was used to determine the dispersion preference of the nanoparticles in the PLA/PBAT blend system. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of thin sections indicated that even though both RDP-coated nanotubes and clay platelets segregated to the interfacial regions between the two immiscible polymers, only the platelets, having the larger specific surface area, were able to reduce the PBAT domain sizes. The ability of clay platelets to partially compatibilize the blend was further confirmed by the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) which showed that the glass transition temperatures of two polymers tended to shift closer. No shift was observed with either coated or uncoated HNTs samples. Izod impact testing demonstrated that the rubbery PBAT phase greatly increased the impact strength of the unfilled blend, but addition of only 5% of treated clay decreased the impact strength by nearly 50%. On the other hand, an increase of 9% relative to the unfilled blend sample was observed with the addition of 5% treated nanotubes. TEM cross-section analysis confirmed that the RDP-coated clay platelets covered most of the interfacial area. On one hand, this enabled them to reduce the interfacial tension effectively; on the other hand, it prevented chain entanglements across the phase boundary and increased the overall brittleness, which was confirmed by rheology measurements. In contrast, the RDP-coated HNTs were observed to lie perpendicular to the interface, which made them less effective in reducing interfacial tension but encouraged interfacial entanglements across the interface, resulting in "stitching" of the interface and an increase in the Izod impact of the blend.