Compounding and Dispersion Technology for Nanocomposites and Polymer Blends by Using Extensional Flow in Twin-Screw Extruder

Abstract

The extensional flow has attracted attention in dispersing the nanofillers and immiscible polymer blends on the nanoscale since the extensional flow enables the direct stretch of the nanofillers and polymer droplets without rotation. Based on the fundamental analysis, we have revealed the dispersion effect of extensional flow. Furthermore, we proposed a new mixing element of a twin-screw extruder, fixed Blister Disc (XBD), that enables generating a strong extensional flow field. This paper reviewed the previous studies and introduced the case studies of compounding the nanocomposites and polymer blends using a twin-screw extruder equipped with the XBD mixing element.