polymer composites

Processing performance and long-term stability of neat polymers can be improved by compounding functional additives—stabilizers, antioxidants, processing aids, fillers and fibers—so they are uniformly dispersed in the matrix. Thermo Scientific™ HAAKE™ instruments give you a fast, sample-efficient way to formulate and characterize these systems.

With the HAAKE MiniLab 3 micro-compounder, you can incorporate mineral fillers (e.g., CaCO₃, clay) to tune cost and stiffness, disperse nanoscale additives such as carbon nanotubes or graphene for conductivity and shielding, and prepare fiber-reinforced blends to boost strength, toughness and impact resistance. Twin-screw geometry, adjustable screw speed, and selectable batch volume (≈2–5 mL) support both distributive and dispersive mixing while conserving expensive materials. Real-time torque and melt data help you compare formulations and optimize residence time.

Rheology closes the loop. The HAAKE MARS rheometers and HAAKE Viscotester iQ viscometers quantify flow and viscoelastic behavior—shear thinning, yield stress, LVE range, and structure recovery—so you can link mixing conditions to end-use properties and set QC limits. For fiber-filled systems, normal-force and oscillatory tests help track fiber–matrix interactions and aspect-ratio effects that drive mechanical performance.

Scale confident and fast. MiniLab test melts can be shaped into films, strands, or plaques with available dies and post-die accessories, then measured on HAAKE rheology platforms to create processing windows that translate to larger twin-screw lines. The result is more compositions screened per day, reproducible data with minimal sample, and a clear path from R&D to production for advanced composite materials.