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Crystallization behavior of isotactic polypropylene induced by competition action of β nucleating agent and high pressure

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Abstract

Addition of β-form nucleating agent (β-NA) to isotactic polypropylene (iPP) can greatly induce the variation of the crystallization of matrix. Here, we introduce high pressure to the crystallization process of β-NA nucleated iPP. It is observed that there is a competition between the effect of high pressure and the nucleation effect of β-NA on crystallization of iPP. With the increasing of high pressure, both the contents of β-iPP and α-iPP decrease while the content of γ-iPP increases. A novel crystalline morphology of γ-iPP with the fragmentations of γ-spherulites regularly organized in a local region is observed. Namely, γ-spherulites grow on the lateral of β-NA needlelike structure. The dual nucleation effects of the special needlelike structure of β-NA towards β/α-iPP and the effect of high pressure which prevents the growth of β-iPP but promotes the growth of γ-iPP are the main mechanisms for the novel crystalline morphology of γ-iPP. Specifically, the mixed polymorphic β/γ-iPP can be achieved under a certain pressure. This possibly enlarges the application of iPP material.

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Acknowledgments

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (51173151, 50973090, 11004163), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-08-0823), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWJTU11CX142, SWJTU11ZT10) were greatly acknowledged for financial support. Prof. Shiming Hong (Southwest Jiaotong University, China) was greatly appreciated for the help during the sample preparation process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science & Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China

    Gang Yang, Xiaoxi Li, Jingwei Chen, Jinghui Yang, Ting Huang & Yong Wang

  2. Laboratory of high pressure physics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China

    Xiuru Liu

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  1. Gang Yang
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  7. Yong Wang
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Correspondence to Yong Wang.

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Yang, G., Li, X., Chen, J. et al. Crystallization behavior of isotactic polypropylene induced by competition action of β nucleating agent and high pressure. Colloid Polym Sci 290, 531–540 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-011-2573-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-011-2573-y

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