2134/17906 Jiaming Bai Jiaming Bai Ruth Goodridge Ruth Goodridge Richard J.M. Hague Richard J.M. Hague Mo Song Mo Song Masami Okamoto Masami Okamoto Influence of carbon nanotubes on the rheology and dynamic mechanical properties of polyamide-12 for laser sintering Loughborough University 2015 Polymer-matrix composites Rheological properties Powder processing Laser sintering Materials Engineering not elsewhere classified Mechanical Engineering 2015-06-17 13:22:01 Journal contribution https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Influence_of_carbon_nanotubes_on_the_rheology_and_dynamic_mechanical_properties_of_polyamide-12_for_laser_sintering/9235049 The rheological behaviour of polymer nanocomposites is very important for polymer processing and understanding the structure-properties relationship. In this paper, the rheological properties of a polyamide 12 (PA12) - carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposite for laser sintering were studied. Compared to neat PA12, the presence of CNTs resulted in higher storage modulus (G′), loss modulus (G″) and viscosity (η). With an increase in temperature, viscosity showed an unusual increase for both PA12 and the PA12-CNT nanocomposites, which is likely to result from incomplete melting of powder particles. Dynamic mechanical analysis was carried out to examine the effect the CNTs were having on the laser sintered parts. The laser sintered PA12-CNT nanocomposite had an increased elastic modulus compared to that of neat PA12. The CNT and polymer matrix interaction hindered the chain motions, which resulted in higher loss modulus and decreased the thermal expansion coefficient.