Non-isothermal crystallisation of polypropylene/hollow glass microspheres composites

Abstract

Polypropylene/hollow glass microspheres composites were prepared by melt blending. The non-isothermal crystallisation of the polypropylene (PP) and its composites were investigated via differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The results showed that the crystallisation peaks shifted to lower temperature and the exothermic trace became wider when the cooling rate was increased. Moreover, the hollow glass microspheres caused an increase in both the crystallisation and initial crystallisation temperatures. In addition, the Jeziorny’s and the Mo’s methods were used to analyse the non-isothermal crystallisation kinetics. The results showed that the crystallisation rate increased with increasing cooling rate. Furthermore, the hollow glass microspheres decreased the crystallisation rates of the matrix.

Keywords:

• Polypropylene
• Hollow glass microspheres
• Crystallisation kinetics
• Non-isothermal crystallisation
• Composites

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Technology Correspondent Project of Tianjin(14JCTPJC00511) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2014M551023).