Optimization and Scaling up of the Fabrication Process of Polymer Nanocomposites: Polyamide-6/Montmorillonite Case Study

Although polyamide (PA) nanocomposites reinforced with montmorillonite (MMT) are processed for more than two decades, the primary technological problem related to optimization of processing conditions to fully exploit properties of these nanomaterials has still to be addressed. The processing of polymer nanocomposites by melt intercalation consists, in principle, of the following stages: preparation and drying of raw materials, preparation of a premix masterbatch, dosing the premix masterbatch into a feeding zone, heating and melting the polyamide-based matrix, an extrusion of a fluid composition followed by a set of auxiliary operations. The process of obtaining polyamide nanocomposites with the desired properties depends on numerous processing parameters that, when varied, affect the quality of manufactured products. Therefore, in this chapter techniques for obtaining polyamide-6/montmorillonite nanocomposites (PA6/MMT NCs), are presented along with discussion of the optimization process for the preparation of PA nanocomposites. Important technological problems arising during the processing are discussed in this chapter, as well as present issues which need to be addressed in scaling up the production from laboratory to industrial scale.