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Investigations in annealing effects on structure and properties of β-isotactic polypropylene with X-ray synchrotron experiments

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Abstract

The influence of annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of β-form isotactic polypropylene (iPP) was investigated via in situ synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Transition of β-iPP to α-iPP was investigated via recrystallization at high annealing temperatures (T a > 120 °C). And crystallinity, crystal sizes, and long period of ordered structure increased with increasing annealing temperature. Abrupt changes were found in both mechanical properties and structural features at the same T a range (∼120 °C). The in situ synchrotron SAXS and WAXD shows that the destruction of b phase at yielding and after yielding should account for the ductility of β-iPP. The thermodynamics and kinetics of annealing were investigated with DSC and X-ray synchrotron experiments. A characteristic annealing time was investigated, which measures the rate of phase evolution in annealing of β-iPP. Eventually, a hypothesized model can be used to describe the property/structure relations during this process.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51173130, 20974077, 21204062).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People’s Republic of China

    Yingrui Shang, Jing Zhao, Jingqing Li & Shichun Jiang

  2. Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China

    Zhonghua Wu

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  1. Yingrui Shang
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  2. Jing Zhao
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  3. Jingqing Li
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  4. Zhonghua Wu
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Correspondence to Yingrui Shang.

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Shang, Y., Zhao, J., Li, J. et al. Investigations in annealing effects on structure and properties of β-isotactic polypropylene with X-ray synchrotron experiments. Colloid Polym Sci 292, 3205–3221 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-014-3368-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-014-3368-8

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