Publication of a scientific article entitled »Low-Temperature Fibre Direct Compounding of Cellulose Fibres into PA6«

In September we published a scientific article in the journal Materials (IF = 3,748) together with colleagues from the Dresden University of Technology and the University of Leoben. The authors of the article are Janez Slapnik, Yuanxi Liu, Robert Kupfer, Thomas Lucyshyn, Blaž Nardin, and Gerald Pinter. You can find it (for free) at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/19/6600

Abstract:

This study reports on the development of a novel polymer processing approach that combines low-temperature (LT) processing and fibre direct compounding (FDC) to reduce the thermal stress on thermosensitive components that occurs during compounding and subsequent injection moulding (IM). Composites based on polyamide 6 (PA6) and cellulose fibres (CeF) were prepared using an LT-FDC process and in parallel with a conventional approach using a twin-screw extruder and IM. The morphological, optical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the prepared samples were investigated using optical microscopy (OM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), colorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and tensile tests. Composites prepared using LT-FDC exhibited worse fibre dispersion but lower fibre degradation. In comparison to neat PA6, the LT-FDC composites had increased tensile modulus (E_t) and storage modulus (E′) at 120 °C by up to 32% and 50%, respectively, while the tensile strength (σ_m) decreased by 20%.