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Development of isotactic polypropylene and stearic acid-modified calcium carbonate composite: a promising material for microwavable packaging

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Abstract

Isotactic polypropylene (PP) composite films were developed, with incorporation of CaCO3 particles as active filler. Stearic acid was used for the surface treatment of CaCO3 to provide composite films having improved mechanical, thermal and barrier properties against oxygen as well as water vapor, in comparison to neat PP films. The filler was melt mixed with PP in a twin-screw extruder, and the films produced through melt blowing. A slight reduction in T g values of the filled PP films was observed, along with an increase in the overall crystallization extent relative to neat PP films. X-ray diffraction data confirmed that the CaCO3 particles served as a β-nucleating agent capable of promoting the formation of the β-crystalline phase of PP and reducing the spherulite size, with stearic acid-coated CaCO3 being most effective in promoting these features. Exposing the films to microwave radiation altered their properties; at low irradiation power, the T g values and the degree of β-crystallization were enhanced, and barrier properties against oxygen and water vapor showed improvements. In contrast, no significant changes in the appearance of the film surface were evident highlighting the potential of these PP-based composite films in microwave packaging applications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support from Thammasat University and NSTDA-University-Industry Research Collaboration (NUI-RC). Moreover, the authors would like to thank the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Rajamangala University for supporting a twin-screw extruder.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Functional Polymeric Materials Research Group, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, Patumtani, 12120, Thailand

    C. Pechyen & S. Ummartyotin

  2. Materials Research Center, in Collaboration with HORIBA Scientific and Thammasat University, Patumtani, 12120, Thailand

    C. Pechyen & S. Ummartyotin

Authors
  1. C. Pechyen
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  2. S. Ummartyotin
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Correspondence to C. Pechyen or S. Ummartyotin.

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Pechyen, C., Ummartyotin, S. Development of isotactic polypropylene and stearic acid-modified calcium carbonate composite: a promising material for microwavable packaging. Polym. Bull. 74, 431–444 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-016-1722-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-016-1722-3

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