Melt Flow Rate
The pristine PLA MFI was 94 g/10 min. The
MFI after melt compounding was 134 g/10
min. This suggests that PLA thermally
degrades during the internal mixing process.
The melt flow indices of PLA/nanoclay
(Cloisite®30B) nanocomposites at various
loading levels after melt compounding were
also measured
Adding
nanoclay generally increased the viscosity of
the polymer matrix and therefore reduced the
MFI.