Premium
A highly active and selective β‐nucleating agent for isotactic polypropylene and crystallization behavior of β‐nucleated isotactic polypropylene under rapid cooling
Author(s) -
Zhao Shicheng,
Gong Hanzhang,
Yu Xin,
Xin Zhong,
Sun Shibao,
Zhou Shuai,
Shi Yaoqi
Publication year - 2016
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.43767
Subject(s) - tacticity , crystallization , materials science , adipate , nucleation , polypropylene , polymer chemistry , zinc , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , polymerization , metallurgy , engineering
Zinc adipate (Adi‐Zn) was observed to be a highly active and selective β‐nucleating agent for isotactic polypropylene (iPP). The effects of Adi‐Zn on the mechanical properties and the β‐crystals content of nucleated iPP were investigated. The impact strength of iPP nucleated with 0.2 wt % Adi‐Zn was 1.8 times higher than that of neat iPP. In addition, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction analysis indicated that the content of β‐crystals in nucleated iPP ( k β value) reached 0.973 with 0.1 wt % Adi‐Zn, indicating that Adi‐Zn is a highly active and selective β‐nucleating agent for iPP. Furthermore, fast scanning chip calorimetry (FSC) studies using cooling rates from 60 to 13,800 °C min −1 revealed that the formation of β‐crystals significantly depended on the cooling rates. At cooling rates below 3000 °C min −1 , only β‐crystals existed. However, at cooling rates above 6000 °C min −1 , β‐crystals failed to form. Moreover, a lower critical crystallization temperature that corresponded to the generation of β‐crystals was investigated using cooling‐induced crystallization, and the results are in good agreement with those of a previous study. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 43767.