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Influence of titanium dioxide on crystallization behavior of an ethylene–propylene copolymer
Author(s) -
Raimo M.,
Martuscelli E.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.13028
Subject(s) - materials science , nucleation , differential scanning calorimetry , crystallization , titanium dioxide , scanning electron microscope , composite material , avrami equation , copolymer , optical microscope , chemical engineering , polymer , polymer chemistry , crystallization of polymers , chemistry , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , physics , engineering
Crystallization of an ethylene–propylene copolymer (E/P) filled with diverse weight percentages of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) was performed under isothermal and nonisothermal conditions to investigate the influence of the inorganic substance on the nucleation and growth mechanisms of the matrix. The overall and radial crystallization rates of the composite materials were measured using, respectively, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and optical microscopy. The nucleation density of E/P spherulites as a function of composition was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), revealing a nucleating effect of TiO 2 . A comparison between the spherulitic texture of specimens showed a higher fineness of the composites relative to the neat matrix, whereas no changes of surface nucleation density were appreciable among composites within the explored compositional range. The thermal behavior is discussed in the light of the enhanced thermal conductivity of polymer composites, which conciliates the crystallization kinetics of the matrix, analyzed using the Avrami equation, to optical and SEM observations. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 3409–3416, 2003