The influence of the morphology of industrial graphite nanoplate (GNP) materials on their dispersion in polycarbonate (PC) is studied. Three GNP morphology types were identified, namely lamellar, fragmented or compact structure. The dispersion evolution of all GNP types in PC is similar with varying melt temperature, screw speed, or mixing time during melt mixing. Increased shear stress reduces...

Polycaprolactone/Hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) composite is an excellent material for fabricating tissue engineering scaffolds, especially as bone scaffolds. However, polarity differences between the hydrophilic HA and the hydrophobic PCL often leads to poor dispersion during the blending process. This is due to the tendency of the HA particles to agglomerate, and the difficulty to efficiently mix th...

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the application of Cloisite 30B organoclay (C30B) on the rheological, structural, electrical, and thermal characteristics of poly (methyl methacrylate)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites (PMMA/MWCNTs) fabricated by the simultaneous melt mixing. The microstructure and the state of nanofllers dispersion wereassessed by melt line...

Graphite nanoplates (GnPs) are exfoliated graphite particles in the form of thin flakes—with large surface areas and nanosized thicknesses— that tend to agglomerate because of van der Waals interactions. GnPs are commonly used to reinforce composite materials. It is expected that maximum composite performance levels should occur when GnP agglomerates are dispersed within the polymer matrix as p...

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), a class of renewable bionanomaterials with excellent mechanical properties, have gained major interest as filler for polymers. However, challenges associated with effective CNC dispersion have hindered the production of composites with desired property enhancements. Here, composites of polypropylene (PP) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) with 5e10 wt% unmodified...

The interactions between spherical colloids covered with end-grafted polymers (brushes) immersed in a polymer melt are studied theoretically. We show that attractive enthalpic interactions between the two polymer species, characterized by a negative Flory parameter (chi<0), can stabilize the colloidal dispersion. The stabilizing mechanism is a result of a structural change from a dry brush, whe...

The authors’ research group has previously developed a novel method for the fabrication of silica/perfluoropolymer nanocomposites, wherein nano-sized silica particles without surface modification were dispersed uniformly through breakdown of loosely packed agglomerates of silica nanoparticles with low fracture strength in a polymer melt during direct melt-compounding. The method consists of two...

The focus of this study is to investigate the capabilities of three dimensional (3D) RVE models in predicting the tensile modulus of carbon nanotube/polypropylene (CNT/PP) composites, which differ slightly in the dispersion, agglomeration, and orientation states of CNT within the PP matrix. The composites are made using melt mixing followed by either injection molding or melt spinning of fibers...

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)/clay nanocomposites were prepared via a melt-compounding method using ester type TPU and two different modified organoclays (Cloisite 30B and Cloisite 15A) in different contents. The Effects of the chemical structure and content of the nanoclays on the thermal degradation and mechanical properties of TPU were also investigated. The effect of structural modificat...

The solubility behaviour of drug is one of the most challenging aspects in formulation development. Thus a greater understanding of dissolution and absorption behaviour of drug with low aqueous solubility is required to successfully formulate them into more soluble and hence bioavailable drug product. Therefore different approaches are being explored to enhance the solubility of poorly water so...