Temperature‐dependent selective crystallization behavior of isotactic polypropylene with a β‐nucleating agent

Abstract

Abstract The crystallization behavior of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) induced with various concentrations of the β‐form nucleating agent aryl amide derivative (TMB‐5) at different temperatures was investigated with synchrotron small‐angle X‐ray scattering and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS) and polarized optical microscopy. The WAXS results indicate that TMB‐5 is a temperature‐dependent selective nucleating agent for iPP crystallization. This means that only β crystals or α crystals form at low or high crystallization temperatures, respectively; both β and α crystals can be found at a suitable crystallization temperature. A mechanism was proposed to understand this phenomenon and the crystallization behavior of iPP with the nucleating agent. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013