Abstract
The measurement of rheological properties of any polymeric material under molten state is crucial to gain fundamental understanding of the processability of that material. In the case of polymer/layered silicate nanocomposites, the measurements of rheological properties are not only important to understand the knowledge of the processability of these materials, but is also helpful to find out the strength of polymerβlayered silicate interactions and the structureβproperty relationship in nanocomposites. This is because rheological behaviors are strongly influenced by their nanoscale structure and interfacial characteristics. In order to get this knowledge in the case of polylactide/montmorillonite nanocomposites, we have studied melt rheological properties of these materials in detail. On the basis of rheological data, we have conducted foam processing of pure polylactide and one representative nanocomposite by a newly developed pressure cell technique using carbon dioxide as a physicalβblowing agent.
The time variation of the elongational viscosity of one of the intercalated polylactide/montmorillonite nanocomposites.
magnified imageThe time variation of the elongational viscosity of one of the intercalated polylactide/montmorillonite nanocomposites.