Influence of β-nucleating agent on the mechanics and crystallization characteristics of polypropylene

Commercial-grade isotactic polypropylene (iPP) was modified with a specific acylamino-nucleator (β-nucleator) in concentrations from 0.1 wt.% to 0.5 wt.%. The mechanical properties of β-nucleated polypropylene were studied. The results showed that the β-nucleating agent had outstanding properties in increasing the toughness of iPP. The impact strength rised to 67.76 J/m2 from 36.09 J/m2 original, elongation at break of iPP was improved from 499% to 144% by adding β-nucleating agent. The reason of the increase of mechanical properties has been ascribed to a specific structure of the amorphous tied-molecule induced by the presence of the β-nucleating agent. The nonisothermal crystallization behavior of iPP and β-nucleated iPP were studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).