Premium
Structure and mechanical properties of isotactic polypropylene and iPP/talc blends functionalized by electron beam irradiation
Author(s) -
Lu Deping,
Guan Rong
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0126(200011)49:11<1389::aid-pi503>3.0.co;2-4
Subject(s) - materials science , crystallinity , composite material , irradiation , tacticity , talc , differential scanning calorimetry , polypropylene , thermogravimetry , dynamic mechanical analysis , thermal stability , polymer chemistry , polymer , chemical engineering , thermodynamics , physics , nuclear physics , engineering , polymerization
The structure and mechanical properties of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) functionalized by electron beam irradiation are investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, thermomechanical analysis, melt index and mechanical measurements. The experimental results show that the degree of crystallinity, the thermal degradation temperature and the dimensional stability increase with dose in the range 0–5 kGy. At 5 kGy, the initial and final degradation temperatures of the irradiated iPP are raised by 66 °C and 124 °C, respectively. The melt index increases with increasing dose. The mechanical measurements show that the stiffness of iPP is greatly enhanced by electron beam irradiation. A small dose of irradiation (0.75 kGy) can increase the Young's modulus to 1284 MPa compared with 1112 MPa for unirradiated iPP. Adding 10 % by weight of irradiated iPP powder into iPP/talc (70/20 % by weight) blends, changes the processing parameters significantly and makes the Young's modulus rise substantially. At a dose of 40 kGy the Young's modulus of iPP/talc blend jumps to 3611 MPa against the original 2201 MPa. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry