Study on the Torque Rheological Behavior of Wood Flour/Chitosan/Polyvinyl Chloride Composites

• Main Authors: Kaimeng Xu, Zhifeng Zheng, Taian Chen, Kaifu Li, Tuhua Zhong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: North Carolina State University 2015-03-01
• Series: BioResources
• Subjects: Chitosan; PVC; Wood flour; Torque rheological behavior
• Online Access: http://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/BioRes/article/view/BioRes_10_2_2549_Xu_Torque_Rheological_Behavior_Wood

Torque rheological properties of wood flour/chitosan/PVC (WF/CS/PVC) compounds were measured by a torque rheometer using roller-style rotating blades at various setting temperatures (175 and 185 °C) and rotation speeds (30, 45, 60, and 75 rpm). The torque rheological parameters were calculated based on the Marquez model and Arrhenius equation. The torque rheological curves of WF/CS/PVC composites were similar to WF/PVC composites without chitosan. The classical Marquez model was verified to be suitable for both WF/PVC and WF/CS/PVC composites. Specifically, the activation energy (ΔE), n value, and range of C(n)m for the former and latter were 27.698 kJ•mol-1 and 29.237 kJ•mol-1, 0.382 and 0.381, and 4.415 to 5.749 N•m•sn and 4.652 to 6.079 N•m•sn, respectively. The rheological properties of WF/CS/PVC composites did not show a great qualitative enhancement compared to WF/PVC composites.