Rheology of particle suspensions in viscoelastic media: Wood flour-polypropylene melt

Abstract

The dynamic mechanical behavior of suspensions of wood flour in polypropylene (PP) melts was investigated at varying filler concentrations. The main observed features were related to the viscoelastic nature of the polymer and to the filler aggregation, where the process of formation and destruction of particle clusters is governed by the polymer chain dynamics. The effect of the wood flour particles at low and large deformations was analyzed. The sample containing a wood flour concentration of 50% (by weight) showed a solid like behavior at low frequencies and was identified as the sample closer to a liquid-solid transition (LST). The values of the Newtonian viscosity obtained from sinusoidal oscillations at low frequencies were related to the concentration of filler in the suspensions. Moreover, a filler concentration scaling was found, that allows to obtain a master curve using the neat polymer as the reference and from which it is possible to calculate the dynamic mechanical behavior of all the suspensions. Apparently, for this system, the relaxation mechanisms of the neat polymer are not changed by the presence of the filler. However, the corresponding relaxation times are increased as a function of the filler concentration.