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Exploring the roles of molecular structure on the β-crystallization of polypropylene random copolymer

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Abstract

To investigate effects of molecular structures on β-crystallization of polypropylene random copolymer (PPR), PPR-A and PPR-B with similar molecular weight and distribution but significantly different polymorphic behavior were used. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), solvent fractionation combined with successive self-nucleation and annealing (SSA) and Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) were applied. Results revealed that after addition of same amount of β-nucleating agent (β-NA), large amount of β-phase is obtained in PPR-A (K β  = 0.603), while no β-phase can be seen from PPR-B; Structure characterizations revealed that they have similar molecular weight but different total amount and distribution of ethylene comonomer: the total content of ethylene comonomer of PPR-A is higher compared with PPR-B, but its ethylene comonomer distribution is less uniform. In this way, PPR-A possesses high molecular weight high isotactic fraction, which cannot be seen from PPR-B due to its more uniform comonomer distribution. Therefore, the presence of highly isotactic PP (HPP) is the key factor in β-crystallization of PPR. For verification, HPP with low or high molecular weights are respectively added into β-nucleated PPR-B. Results revealed that HPP was effective in enhancing β-crystallization of PPR-B; higher molecular weight of HPP was more favorable and more effective.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC 51203106, 51503134) and the State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering (Grant No. SKLPME 2017-3-02) for the financial support.

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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

    Hao Zheng, Fangxinyu Zeng, Zhengfang Chen, Jian Kang, Jinyao Chen, Ya Cao & Ming Xiang

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  1. Hao Zheng
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  2. Fangxinyu Zeng
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Correspondence to Jian Kang.

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Zheng, H., Zeng, F., Chen, Z. et al. Exploring the roles of molecular structure on the β-crystallization of polypropylene random copolymer. J Polym Res 24, 225 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-017-1358-5

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