a) b - École Polytechnique de Montréal

Table 4-1. Material Characteristics
Material Supplier Commercial
Code
Mw×10 -3
(g/mol)
η*× 10 -3 at
25 rad s -1 (Pa.s)
Density (g/cm 3 )
at 20 °C
103
Density (g/cm 3 )
at 200 °C
Poly(methyl methacrylate) Aldrich - 12 0.04 a 1.19 1
Polystyrene Dow 615APR 290 1.5 1.04 0.97
High density Polyethylene Dow - 79 0.72 0.98 0.85
Polyaniline Panipol CX - 0.11 b - 1.07
Polyvinylidene fluoride Arkema Kynar Flex - 1.4 c - 1.6
PS-co-PMMA (40% Styrene) - - 100-150 34 d - 0.98
a reported by Reignier et al.(Reignier & Favis, 2000)
b viscosity measured at 180°C
c zero shear viscosity of PVDF is 902000 Pa.s at 190°C calculated by Carreau-Yasuda model
d zero shear viscosity (Pa.s) at 190°C
4.3.2 Rheological Analysis
The rheological characterization of the neat polymers was measured using a Bohlin constant
stress rheometer (CSM) in the dynamic mode. PS, PMMA, HDPE, and PVDF are known to
follow the Cox-Mertz equation(Cox & Merz, 1958), consequently, the applied frequency can be
considered as the shear rate and the complex viscosity as the steady shear viscosity.
Measurements were carried out at 190 ºC under a nitrogen atmosphere. The complex viscosity of
the pure homopolymers are plotted as a function of frequency in Figure 4-2. The viscosity of
homopolymers at 25 s -1 are reported in Table 4-1. All polymers show shear-thinning behavior
and the Carreau-Yasuda model(Yasuda, Armstrong, & Cohen, 1981) was used to determine the
zero-shear viscosity of PVDF.