Abstract
During moulding processes such as thermoforming and blow moulding, heated polymer materials are subjected to rapid biaxial deformation as they are drawn into the shape of a mould. It is therefore essential to accurately measure and model this behaviour for new materials subjected to these processes. In this work, the processing and characterization of polypropylene (PP) nanocomposites containing graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) is reported. PP/GNP nanocomposites were prepared by melt-mixing using an industrial-scale, co-rotating, intermeshing, twin-screw extruder. A bespoke screw configuration designed in-house was used to enhance nanoparticle dispersion in a polymer matrix. The effects of nanofiller content and biaxial stretching on the bulk properties of PP/GNP nanocomposites have been investigated in details.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 1 Aug 2017 |
| Event | 21st International Conference on Composite Materials, ICCM 2017 - Xi'an, China Duration: 20 Aug 2017 → 25 Aug 2017 |
Conference
| Conference | 21st International Conference on Composite Materials, ICCM 2017 |
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| Country/Territory | China |
| City | Xi'an |
| Period | 20/08/17 → 25/08/17 |
Funding
The authors wish to thank the QNRF for research funding through NPRP award (NPRP5-039-2-014) (NRF) Qatar. The authors would also like to thank Mr. Graham Garrett from the PPRC in QUB for providing support in the melt processing of polymers.
Keywords
- Bi-axial stretching
- Electrical properties
- Graphene nanoplatelet
- Mechanical properties
- Polymer composites
- Thermal properties