Influence of twin-screw extrusion processing conditions on the structure of nanocomposites and characterization by rheometry

International audienceNanocomposite materials received a lot of interest in the last years as promising high performance materials. However the fact that produced materials do not meet theoretical expectations makes that their industrial application is still limited. This is due to a lack of understanding of some fundamental questions related to the polymer nanocomposite technology. Despite recent progresses, open questions remain such as the nanofiller/matrix compatibilisation, the control of the filler dispersion of the nanocomposite under thermomechanical solicitations (processing conditions), the relationship between the level of filler dispersion and the mechanical properties. In this presentation, two of these points will be discussed. In a first part, the use of dynamic rheometry to probe the filler dispersion will be discussed. In a second part, the effect of processing parameters on the dispersion state will be investigated