Origin of various lamellar orientations in high-density polyethylene/isotactic polypropylene blends achieved via dynamic packing injection molding: bulk crystallization vs. epitaxy

Epitaxial growth of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) onto lamellae of isotactic polypropylene (iPP), with HDPE chains inclined about 50° to that of iPP, has been achieved for the first time in their blends via dynamic packing injection molding. Even more, the epitaxial growth was found to be dependent on composition of the blends. The sequence of crystallization is not the dominant factor, but the fact that iPP crystallizes before HDPE is prerequisite for epitaxial growth of PE. Various lamellar orientations with composition can be explained by the competition between bulk crystallization and epitaxy at interfaces (i.e. iPP lamellae). In 20PP (20 wt% iPP by weight in blends), HDPE can readily crystallize in the bulk as a result of shear, and no epitaxial growth of PE is observed. For 80PP, however, bulk crystallization of HDPE can be depressed due to lack of nuclei in its bulk, resulting from a much finer droplets dispersed in the iPP matrix, and then epitaxial growth prevails.