Ultrasonic treatment of PP/CNT composites during twin‐screw extrusion: Effect of screw configuration

Abstract

PP/CNT composites were prepared by means of an ultrasonic twin extruder with three screw configurations at ultrasonic amplitudes up to 13 μm to compare their efficiency in dispersing CNT in PP. Using these screw configurations, the pressure in the ultrasonic treatment zone was varied in order to elucidate the effect of pressure on ultrasonic cavitation behavior in PP and PP/CNT composites. Rheological and mechanical behaviors were analyzed to reflect the dispersion of CNT. The results indicated that the dispersion of CNT in PP is more related to the number of kneading elements in the screw configuration and less to the residence time. This was explained by simulating the mixing effect using the flow analysis network. Comparison of the complex viscosities of untreated and treated PP indicated that at the same amplitude of ultrasonic treatment, PP degraded more at lower ambient pressure. At the lowest ambient pressure, the cavitation in the polymer matrix was intense at the highest amplitude but it had not always led to the best dispersion due to the suppression of the cavitation in the agglomerates. Therefore, the ultrasonic treatment increased the dispersion level of CNT in PP with the best improvement not always occurring at the highest amplitude. Composites prepared at an ultrasonic amplitude of 10 μm in the screw configuration providing an intermediate pressure exhibited elongation at break as high as 320% compared to 247% for the untreated composites. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:2695–2706, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers