Multiple transitions in isotactic polypropylene around and above the glass transition

Abstract

Abstract Gas chromatography, thermal expansion, dynamic mechanical relaxation and thermally stimulated current measurements were used to study multiple transitions in isotactic polypropylene. The crystalline phase relaxation Tαc was decomposed into two components, Tαc1 and Tαc1, in order of decreasing temperature. The activation energy of the Tαc mode was found to be lower than that of the relaxation observed around the glass transition temperature. Thermally stimulated current (TSC) measurements revealed the existence of an apparent double liquid-liquid transition at 39°C and 68 °C in undrawn polypropylene and at 28°C and 55°C in drawn polypropylene. These TSC peaks correspond to a relaxation time following a Vogel equation whose critical temperatures let us predict an apparent double glass transition in polypropylene.