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Understanding the effects of nucleating agent concentration on the polymorphic behavior of β-nucleated isotactic polypropylene with different melt structures

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Abstract

To elucidate the synergetic effect in enhancing β-crystallization between β-nucleating agent (β-NA) and ordered structures of isotactic polypropylene (iPP), i.e., ordered structure effect (OSE), in this study, the role of β-NA concentration (Cβ-NA) was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in-situ small-angle X-ray scattering (in-situ SAXS). Results showed that Cβ-NA was a determining factor of OSE: Cβ-NA < 0.01 wt% was too low to induce β-crystallization while Cβ-NA ≥ 0.09 wt% was saturated β-NA concentration, and none of them can induce OSE; only when Cβ-NA = 0.01–0.08 wt% (i.e., unsaturated concentration) can OSE take place. There existed a competitive relationship in the enhancement of β-phase between OSE and conventional β-nucleation effect of β-NA. Moreover, in-situ SAXS revealed that at T f = 190 °C (around upper limiting temperature for occurrence of OSE), when Cβ-NA was different, the geometric shapes of ordered structures in iPP melts were quite different from each other. The involved mechanism was proposed.

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Acknowledgments

We express sincerely our thanks to the Sichuan University Scientific Research Foundation for Young Teachers (2012SCU11075), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 51203106, 21404063), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. LQ14E030001), and K.C. Wong Magna Fund of Ningbo University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, People’s Republic of China

    Jian Kang, Zhengfang Chen, Feng Yang, Jinyao Chen, Ya Cao & Ming Xiang

  2. Faculty of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, People’s Republic of China

    Gengsheng Weng

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  1. Jian Kang
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  2. Zhengfang Chen
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  3. Feng Yang
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  6. Gengsheng Weng
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Correspondence to Feng Yang or Gengsheng Weng.

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Kang, J., Chen, Z., Yang, F. et al. Understanding the effects of nucleating agent concentration on the polymorphic behavior of β-nucleated isotactic polypropylene with different melt structures. Colloid Polym Sci 293, 2061–2073 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-015-3605-9

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