Flow behaviour and viscoelasticity of polypropylene-kaolin composites extruded at different temperatures

Abstract

A study of kaolin addition in polypropylene (PP-kaolin) melt was carried out to characterize its flow behaviour and viscoelasticity at different temperatures. The compound of 20 wt% kaolin was prepared by melt mixing using two roll-mill heated at 185°C, while the compounded composites were put through a single screw extruder to evaluate its melt flow properties. The prepared PP-Kaolin composites exhibited a shear thinning behaviour and appeared to be strongly dependent on temperature. Moreover, it was also found that the power law index was constantly increased as the temperature increased. Meanwhile, a similar trend was observed for swelling ratio, whereby it also increased with increasing temperature. It was also observed that changes in the die temperatures would result in the formation of obvious bubble like surface morphology, and it became more prominent when the temperature was lowered.