The effect of surface energy of boron nitride on polymer processability

Flow instabilities manifest themselves as distortions on the extrudate surface (melt fracture). They are usually observed at high production rates in many polymer processing operations. Certain fluoropolymers/fluoroelastomers have long been used as processing aids for surface melt fracture elimination. Recent developments have shown that a small amount of boron nitride (BN) powder may successfully eliminate surface melt fracture and also delay the onset of gross melt fracture to higher rates. It has also been reported that a combination of BN and fluoropolymer/fluoroelastomer enhances the effectiveness of the polymer processing even further. The main objective of the present work was to measure the surface properties of a number BN powders, mainly surface energy, in order to gain a better understanding of its performance as a processing aid. Based on this study, it can be concluded that surface energy plays an important role in deciding the possible interactions between the processing aid, polymer melt and the extruding surface. It is observed that the lubricious nature of BN along with an optimum balance of its polar (non‐dispersive) and non‐polar (dispersive) components of surface energy renders BN a successful processing aid in eliminating both sharkskin and gross melt fracture phenomena. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:1543–1550, 2004.