Water-Assisted Production of Thermoplastic Nanocomposites: A Review.
MATERIALS 2014;
8:72-95. [PMID:
28787925 PMCID:
PMC5455224 DOI:
10.3390/ma8010072]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2014] [Accepted: 12/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Water-assisted, or more generally liquid-mediated, melt compounding of nanocomposites is basically a combination of solution-assisted and traditional melt mixing methods. It is an emerging technique to overcome several disadvantages of the above two. Water or aqueous liquids with additives, do not work merely as temporary carrier materials of suitable nanofillers. During batchwise and continuous compounding, these liquids are fully or partly evaporated. In the latter case, the residual liquid is working as a plasticizer. This processing technique contributes to a better dispersion of the nanofillers and affects markedly the morphology and properties of the resulting nanocomposites. A survey is given below on the present praxis and possible future developments of water-assisted melt mixing techniques for the production of thermoplastic nanocomposites.
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