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Nucleated crystallization of isotactic polypropylene in multilayered sandwich nanocomposites with gold particles
Author(s) -
Slouf Miroslav,
Sikora Antonin,
Pavlova Ewa,
Vlkova Helena,
Baldrian Josef,
Base Tomas,
Piorkowska Ewa
Publication year - 2012
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.36589
Subject(s) - materials science , nucleation , crystallization , tacticity , differential scanning calorimetry , polypropylene , chemical engineering , nanocrystalline material , nanocomposite , colloidal gold , nanoparticle , composite material , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , polymer , polymerization , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , engineering , thermodynamics
Nucleation of isotactic polypropylene (PP) crystallization by gold particles with various sizes and shapes was studied. The morphology of gold particles ranged from microcrystals with well‐developed crystal facets (AuMC) to vacuum‐sputtered 5 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNP), 30 nm gold nanoislands (AuNI), and compact gold nanolayer (AuNL). To minimize agglomeration of Au particles in molten PP, the nucleated crystallization was studied by means of the improved sandwich method, which consisted in the controlled deposition of a homogeneous nucleant layer between ∼ 100 μm PP films, followed by the careful thermal treatment and the evaluation of the nucleation activity by three independent methods: polarized‐light microscopy, two‐dimensional wide‐angle X‐ray scattering, and differential scanning calorimetry. It was demonstrated that the nucleating activity of gold strongly depended on its morphology: The nucleation effect of microcrystalline AuMC resulted in a transcrystallization comparable to that caused by a strong commercial α‐nucleant (Hyperform HPN‐68), whereas the effect of vacuum‐sputtered layers of nanocrystalline AuNL, AuNI, and AuNP was extremely weak. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012