Fabrication and characterization of PANI-modified LLDPE-paraffin wax blends

An intermediate stage in the net casting that can potentially limit the features of the final metallic product, called dewaxing, is highly dependent on features of pattern wax. The general process of dewaxing, involved in investment casting for the reuse of the wax, requires a high amount of energy and entails high processing time through conventional heating methods thus resulting in a lower rate of processing at a bulk scale production. In this research, the pattern wax blends, containing polyethylene, ethylene–vinyl acetate, bitumen, and paraffin wax, were investigated for their microwave processing time in the presence of susceptor material (polyaniline). Polyaniline in wax blends was incorporated as a microwave susceptor in concentrations of 0.15, 0.45, 0.75, 1.5, 3, 5, and 10 wt%. Advancements in processing properties of pattern wax blends, using microwave dewaxing technology, were observed along with the improvement in melting behavior of pattern wax blends owing to the creation of heat-sensitive sites due to the addition of a susceptor. The decrease in complete flow time was observed from 202 to 55 s by the addition of 10 wt% of polyaniline in wax. A ceramic die and stand to hold the die at a hotspot in microwaves were designed for experiments. FTIR-ATR, rheological, TGA, DSC, mechanical (UTM), and morphological analysis (SEM and OM) were performed to investigate the behavior of pattern wax blends under the application of microwave heating. An inverse trend was observed in processing time with susceptor loading in microwaves.