ABSTRACT
Biodegradable polymer-based materials have remarkable properties comparable to commercial polymers, such as strength, thermoplasticity, processability and polymer versatility besides degradability and biocompatibility. In view of environmental sustainability, synthesis of biodegradable polymeric materials has increased, particularly processing with nano-reinforcements. In case of industrial synthesis of composites, different melt processing methods such as extrusion, melt mixing, injection moulding, blow moulding and thermoforming are carried out based on the product specification. Rheology investigation is much important in this case as the melt strength of composites determines the properties such as castability, deformation and load-bearing properties. However, higher melt strength increases the power requirement for composite processing. In order to determine the optimized condition for polymer processing and to reduce material degradation, rheological properties of composite melts are very much important. Similarly, in case of coated packaging or active packaging materials, solution rheology is required. In this chapter, different aspects of rheology analysis for degradable nanocomposites are thoroughly discussed. Different instruments utilized for solution and melt rheology are discussed in this chapter. Solution, rheology, melt rheology and magnetorheological investigation are discussed in view of the current researches. Theoretical modelling related to flow behaviour of the biodegradable composite is also discussed. In the end, summary and outlook section is added to summarize and enlighten possible future work in this topic.
