Optimisation of process conditions of Pla/organology nanocomposite by using statistical analysis

Over the last few years, polymer/layered silicate (PLS) nanocomposites have been an area of intense academic and industrial research. The combination of polymer and clays, at the nanoscale, often results in remarkably improved mechanical and functional properties, even at low filler concentration (1¿5 wt%) with respect to pure polymers or conventional composites (either micro- or macrocomposites). In this study, PLA/organoclay nanocomposites were prepared by means of a melt blending method. The novel contribution of this study is the optimisation of processing conditions by using statistical analysis. The experiments were statistically designed and carried out according to a 23 full factorial design with two replicate and two center points. The variables chosen for this study were mixing temperature, mixing speed and mixing time. Results showed that the optimum settings are 195°C for mixing temperature, 100 rpm for mixing speed and 5 min for mixing time. It is quite interesting to notice that the optimal control parameter settings are one which corresponds to trial condition. It shows that values observed in the experiment are almost similar to the values predicted by Minitab.