In the pursuit of improved properties offered by polymer-layered silicate nanocomposites (PNC) a wide variety of concerns must be addressed and a large number of parameters that influence PNC performance must be taken into consideration. Parameters such as polymers, nano-fillers, co-additives, and processing variables generate thousands of combinations/formulations that are worth to be investigated. Consequently, a fairly extensive research and development work is necessary to perform. Often this work is too broad, complex, expensive, long-term and risky for industry to undertake which constitutes an obstacle in the commercialization of nanotechnology. This paper, which is based on the experience from a R&D work for an industrial application, presents a procedure composed of high throughput (HT) screening methods for speed up the development of PNC. Our task was to replace existing conventional glass fibre reinforced polypropylene (PP) used in manufacturing of pallets by PP/montmorillonite nanocomposite. One of the most important HT tools was a 15 cc laboratory-scale twin-screw micro-compounder equipped with 3,5 cc shot volume injection moulder. The HT nature of the micro-compounder was derived from three important abilities viz. the ability to quick alterations of the formulation, the ability to easily change the processing conditions and direct extrusion of the test samples suitable for the evaluation. Equally important was to determine the overall order and morphology of the system to provide a basic understanding of these materials. Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction (WAXD) was used to investigate the intercalation effects due to ease and availability. The shape and dispersion of clay platelets in the polymer was made visible by High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (HR-SEM) but the big advantage with this technique was the possibility to observe the compatibility between the clay particles and the polymer matrix.

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