Melt transformation extrusion

Extrusion is a continuous conversion process via melting and subsequent transformation of granules or powders of biodegradable polymers and additives into semifinished or finished articles like sheets, profiles, tubes, bottles, films, tapes or... 

Figure 5.15. MFC can be obtained from incompatible polymer blends by extrusion and orientation (the fibrillization step) followed by thermal treatment at a temperature between the melting points of the two components at constant strain (the isotropization step). The block copolymers formed during the isotropization (in the case of condensation polymers) play the role of a self-compatibilizer. Prolonged annealing transforms the matrix into a block and thereafter into a random copolymer (a) an MFC on the macro level, (b) an MFC on the micro (molecular) level (Fakirov Evstatiev, 1994).

The main stream of wood fiber PP composites is short fiber reinforced, suitable for typical thermoplastic processing. The main steps of this technology are (1) pre-mixing, (2) plastic transformation of the melt (typically sheet extrusion), and (3) thermoforming (vacuum- or pressureforming) of the sheet. 

Axel Plastics Research Laboratories mentions INT 30 UDK as an internal lubricant and a mold-release agent for polycarbonates and polyolefins. It provides better transformability and improves rheological properties of the melt bulk polymer it prevents the formation of flow lines in the production of sheets by extrusion blowing. It is also an antistatic agent [30]. 

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