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Isotactic Poly(propylene) Crystallization: Role of Small Fractions of High or Low Molecular Weight Polymer

✍ Scribed by Aadil Elmoumni; Ramon A. Gonzalez-Ruiz; E. Bryan Coughlin; H. Henning Winter


Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
2005
Tongue
English
Weight
238 KB
Volume
206
Category
Article
ISSN
1022-1352

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✦ Synopsis


Abstract

Summary: Two well‐characterized metallocene isotactic poly(propylene) (iPP) samples, one of high and one of low molecular weight, were blended together for studying the effects of a second component on quiescent and shear‐induced crystallization. A small amount of added high molecular weight (HMW) (up to 10 wt.‐%) polymer increases the quiescent crystallization rate. This was observed as a decrease in characteristic halftime of transmitted light intensity. The crystallization halftime increases again when adding more than 10 wt.‐% of HMW polymer. The crystallization halftime of pre‐sheared samples decreases with increasing HMW fraction and is lowest for the HMW sample by itself. For the specific shearing conditions (γ = 600, T~x~ = 145 °C), wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) images show the presence of the gamma (γ) crystalline phase of iPP for samples containing 25 wt.‐% of HMW and higher. DSC thermograms demonstrated higher crystalline fractions with increasing HMW fraction in pre‐sheared samples.

Optical micrograph of an iPP sample after quiescent crystallization at 145 °C.

magnified imageOptical micrograph of an iPP sample after quiescent crystallization at 145 °C.