Influence on the thermophysical properties of nanocomposites of the duration of mixing of components in the polymer melt

Abstract

A set of experimental studies has been carried out to establish the effect of the mixing time of components of nanocomposite materials on their thermal conductivity, specific heat, and density. The physical properties of polypropylene-carbon nanotube composites were to be studied. During the experiments, the duration of mixing of the components in the melt of the polymer varied from 5 to 52 minutes, the mass fraction of the filler ‒ in the range of 0.3...10 %, and nanocomposite temperature – from 290 K to 475 K. It was found that an increase in the mixing time of components of nanocomposite materials could lead to a significant (more than 70 times) increase in their thermal conductivity. It is also shown that the influence of the specified time is limited to its value equal to 27 minutes, above which the change in the thermal conductivity of nanocomposites can be neglected. It was found that the sensitivity of the thermal conductivity of nanocomposites to the time of mixing of their components decreases with a decrease in the mass fraction of the filler. Temperature dependences of the specific heat capacity of the studied composites were obtained by varying the mixing time of their components and the mass fraction of the filler. It was found that with an increase in the specified time, there is a decrease in the heat capacity of nanocomposites, which is significantly manifested only in the region of temperatures close to the melting point of the composite matrix. It is shown that the dependence of the density of nanocomposites on the mixing time of their components in qualitative terms is similar to the corresponding dependence for their thermal conductivity. The obtained data can be used to choose the mixing time of components of nanocomposite materials in the development of appropriate technology for their production