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Crystallization, melting, supermolecular structure and properties of isotactic polypropylene nucleated with dicyclohexyl-terephthalamide

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Abstract

Dicyclohexyl-terephthalamide (DCHT) is an efficient and partially soluble nucleating agent for isotactic polypropylene. Its properties, nucleating efficiency and selectivity were characterized using infrared spectroscopy, calorimetry and polarized light microscopy techniques with special attention to the dissolution and recrystallization of DCHT in the iPP melt. The mechanical properties of the nucleated samples were studied using standard tensile tests. It was found that DCHT possesses dual (α and β) nucleating ability. DCHT is soluble in polypropylene melt and recrystallized from the melt during the cooling. It was observed that a special supermolecular structure is formed in its presence, where micron-sized α-iPP is dispersed finely in the β-iPP matrix. This unique structure promoted good stiffness and toughness simultaneously.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of the National Scientific Research Fund of Hungary (OTKA Grant No PD 109346) for this project on the structure–property correlations of polymeric materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, Laboratory of Plastics and Rubber Technology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3. H. ép. I., Budapest, 1111, Hungary

    Flóra Horváth, Tibor Gombár, József Varga & Alfréd Menyhárd

  2. Institute of Materials Science and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest, 1117, Hungary

    Alfréd Menyhárd

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  1. Flóra Horváth
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  2. Tibor Gombár
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  4. Alfréd Menyhárd
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Correspondence to Alfréd Menyhárd.

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Horváth, F., Gombár, T., Varga, J. et al. Crystallization, melting, supermolecular structure and properties of isotactic polypropylene nucleated with dicyclohexyl-terephthalamide. J Therm Anal Calorim 128, 925–935 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-016-6057-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-016-6057-7

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