Influence of carbon black trimodal mixture on LDPE films properties: Part1 - DOE

Abstract

In this study, the influence of carbon black (CB) trimodal mixture, with different medium particle sizes, on the colorimetric and rheological properties of polyethylene was evaluated. Three different types of CB were selected, with particle sizes of 15nm (S), 38nm (M), and 75nm (L) and combined, generating a Design of Experiments (DOE) with 19 formulations to be dispersed at 30% in low density polyethylene (LDPE) in twin screw extruder. Such formulations were evaluated in performance and process properties, such as Tint Strength, Melt Flow Index (MFI), and Total Transmittance (TT). It was observed that the mixtures between small (S) and medium (M) particles developed greater tinting strength and lower viscosity, demonstrating the synergy of the mixture, which was superior in the performance of the mixture containing only a particular of 15nm (S) that would have greater potential for results.

Keywords:
carbon black; polyethylene; tinting strength; trimodal particle size distribution; viscosity