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A nematic liquid crystalline polymer as highly active novel β-nucleating agent for isotactic polypropylene

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Abstract

A nematic liquid crystalline polysiloxane has been found to be a novel nucleating agent (LCP-NA2) to induce the formation of β-crystals in isotactic polypropylene (iPP). Wide angle X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and polarized optical microscopy were used to evaluate the nucleating activity of LCP-NA2. The effect of LCP-NA2 content, crystallization temperature, and time on the crystallization structure, morphology, and thermal behavior of the iPP was discussed. The results indicated that the nucleating activity mainly depended on LCP-NA2 content and thermal history of processing. The addition of LCP-NA2 could provide a large number of nuclei and lead to a more uniform morphology, along with a change in the nucleation and crystal growth mechanism. The relative content of β-crystal increased with increasing LCP-NA2 content or crystallization temperature, reached a maximum value of 70 % when LCP-NA2 content and crystallization temperature were 1.0 wt% and 125 °C, and then decreased with a further increase of LCP-NA2 content or crystallization temperature. In addition, a different polymorphic behavior had been observed between pure iPP and LCP-NA2/iPP blends under the same thermal treatment.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Science and Technology Bureau of Shenyang, and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (N110405006 and N110705001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110004, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Sun, Qun Li, Xi-Jing Yao, Jian-She Hu & Yang Qi

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  1. Jing Sun
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  2. Qun Li
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  3. Xi-Jing Yao
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  4. Jian-She Hu
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Correspondence to Jian-She Hu.

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Sun, J., Li, Q., Yao, XJ. et al. A nematic liquid crystalline polymer as highly active novel β-nucleating agent for isotactic polypropylene. J Mater Sci 48, 4032–4040 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7215-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7215-y

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