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Dynamic crystallization and melting behavior of β-nucleated isotactic polypropylene polymerized with different Ziegler-Natta catalysts

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Abstract

Large amount of work has be published on the dynamic crystallization and melting behavior of β-nucleated polypropylene (β-PP). However, the relationship between molecular structure and dynamic crystallization behavior of β-PP is still not clear. In this study, the dynamic crystallization and melting behavior of two β-nucleated isotactic polypropylene (β-iPP) with nearly same average isotacticity but different stereo-defect distribution, were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angel X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and temperature modulated DSC (TMDSC). The results indicated that stereo-defect distribution of iPP can significantly influence the dependence of the β-crystal content and thermal stability on the cooling rate. NPP-A with less uniform stereo-defect distribution favors the crystallization at higher temperature region and the formation of β-crystal with high thermal stability in all cooling rates concerned, moreover, the β-crystal content is influenced by cooling rate; for NPP-B with more uniform distribution of stereo-defect, the crystallization temperature and the regular insertion of molecular chains can be reduced in a larger extent. NPP-B is more suitable for the formation of high proportion of β-crystal in both low and high cooling rates, meanwhile, the thermal stability of crystal is sensitive to the cooling rate. This work provides a new insight into the design of β-iPP in dynamic crystallization.

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Acknowledgment

We express our sincerely thanks to the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10-0562).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Jian Kang, Jinggang Gai, Jingping Li, Shaohua Chen, Hongmei Peng, Bin Wang, Ya Cao, Huilin Li, Jinyao Chen, Feng Yang & Ming Xiang

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  1. Jian Kang
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Correspondence to Feng Yang or Ming Xiang.

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Kang, J., Gai, J., Li, J. et al. Dynamic crystallization and melting behavior of β-nucleated isotactic polypropylene polymerized with different Ziegler-Natta catalysts. J Polym Res 20, 70 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-012-0070-8

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