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Increased nucleation efficiency of an in situ–formed β-nucleating agent for impact polypropylene copolymer

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Abstract

In this study we generated zinc adipate (ZnAA) in situ [referred to herein as “ZnAA(IS)”] through the addition of its reaction precursors—adipic acid and zinc oxide—during the extrusion of impact polypropylene copolymer (IPC); we then investigated its nucleation performance as β nucleating agent using differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, and tests of mechanical properties. When compared with the pre-addition of ZnAA, the generation of ZnAA(IS) in situ resulted in higher nucleation effect toward the IPC, due to the smaller average particle size and more uniform dispersion of ZnAA(IS). In particular, compared with the neat IPC, the impact strength of the IPC prepared using 0.1 wt% of ZnAA(IS) increased by 103% at low temperature (−20 °C), whereas that of the IPC prepared with ZnAA increased by 38.9% under the same conditions. Moreover, when using Flash DSC to examine the crystallization behavior of the IPC under rapid cooling, we observed that, upon increasing the cooling rate, two crystalline peaks appeared for the neat and nucleated IPCs, presumably because of the crystallization of both the PP and PE homopolymers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 21878089 and 21606084), National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFB0302201) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (22221818010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Multiphase Materials Chemical Engineering, Department of Product Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, People’s Republic of China

    Lan Chen, Yaoding Yang, Zhong Xin, Wei Qin, Shuai Zhou & Shicheng Zhao

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  1. Lan Chen
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  2. Yaoding Yang
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  3. Zhong Xin
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Correspondence to Shicheng Zhao.

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Chen, L., Yang, Y., Xin, Z. et al. Increased nucleation efficiency of an in situ–formed β-nucleating agent for impact polypropylene copolymer. J Polym Res 26, 245 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-019-1908-0

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