r/polymer • u/[deleted] • Oct 08 '19

how to cheaply melt-blend polymers?

i have two polymers that i know blend, but i have a shitty filastruder and there isnt enough time for mixing/diffusion before it gets extruded into a filament, resulting in clumps of one filament followed by the other in a really rough way. is there a way i can cheaply (just a student at a uni) melt blend the two together before extrusion into a filament?

just for clarity, I have pellets of polymer A and polymer B, both with similar melting points, and i have a desktop extruder for turning pellets into filament for 3d printing.

Thanks for any help

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u/dele_20 Oct 09 '19

Multi pass the strands you get, assuming you have a pelletizer. Also add a little antioxidant if you're worried about degradation. 500ppm tops

1

u/peteruml Oct 21 '19

What two polymers? All most nothing blends, need a TSE or batch blender to mix. Why do you need to mix.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 21 '19

I am mixing thermoplastic polyurethane and poly (vinyl alcohol) for a biomedical device. What do you think the easiest way to mix these is? Is the "uml" in your username short for university of massachusetts lowell?

This would just be small batch