The influence of interface and thermal conductivity of filler on the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of polypropylene/natural protein fiber composites

The nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of polypropylene/down feather fiber composites were investigated using a Differential Scanning Calorimeter at five different cooling rates. The Avrami and Liu models were able to satisfactorily describe the crystallization behavior of composites, which indicated the entirely unique mechanism. It was found that fiber/matrix interface and thermal conductivity of fiber had key roles for the crystallization behavior of composites and had a close relationship with the properties of the industrial product reinforced with natural protein fiber. The nucleation activity and activation energies were also calculated by different theoretical models and also proved the experimental results.