ABSTRACT:The influence of the molecular weight of the dispersed phase of ethylene-propylene rubber modified isotactic polypropylene (iPP/EPR) reactor blends was studied in a systematic way by varying their intrinsic viscosity (IV) from 1.7 to 6 dg/L while keeping the matrix melt flow rate (MFR) constant. Standard Charpy measurements were completed by a continuous analysis of the impact properties over a wide range of temperatures at fixed test speed. As expected, the higher the IV, the tougher the iPP/EPR blends. However, ductile-brittle transitions as key mechanical descriptors did not correlate linearly with M w , suggesting the macroscopic behavior of the blend to be controlled primarily by the morphology of the EPR particles. Moreover, strong correlations were found between impact mechanical properties, amount of stress-whitening, and strength of the molecular relaxations estimated from dynamical mechanical analysis.
Potential and limits of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) as a tool for fracture resistance evaluation of isotactic polypropylenes and their polyolefin blends are presented. A minimum of information about the materials under investigation is a prerequisite to interpret the DMA traces in a right way. Although DMA is, in general, a powerful method to rank materials in term of toughness, care should be taken with (1) nucleated materials (where both intensity and strength of molecular relaxations need to be taken into account in material evaluation) and with (2) visbroken (i.e., peroxyde treated) grades. Except for these cases, the strengths of the principal or secondary molecular relaxation evaluated by DMA and the Charpy impact toughness correlate quantitatively when all the grades of a series exhibit unstable crack propagation. When changes in the macroscopic mode of fracture or in blend morphology occur, only qualitative correlations remain possible.
Polypropylene/polyamide 6 blends and their nanocomposites with layered silicates or talc were prepared in a melt-compounding process to explore their mechanical performance. The thermomechanical behavior, crystallization effects, rheology, and morphology of these materials were studied with a wide range of experimental techniques. In all cases, the inorganic filler was enriched in the polyamide phase and resulted in a phase coarsening of the polypropylene/polyamide nanocomposite in comparison with the nonfilled polypropylene/polyamide blend. The mechanical properties of these nanoblends were consequently only slightly better than those of the pure polymers with respect to the modulus, whereas the impact level was below that of the pure polymers, reflecting the heterogeneity of the nanoblend. Polymer-specific organic modification of the nanoclays did not result in a better phase distribution, which would be required for better overall performance.
The evolution of crystallinity and mechanical properties of two different series of PPhomopolymers (RE grades coming directly from the polymerization reactor and CR grades priorly subjected to a defined degradation process) as influenced by the molar mass and heterogeneous nucleation was investigated, including one highly isotactic material to check the tacticity influence. In principle, the effects seem explainable by differences in the number of nuclei and the spherulithic growth speed, which were determined separately. The nucleation effects are similar for all materials, but strongly dependent of the molar mass of the materials. Apart from the bulk material properties, also the development of shearinduced structures is strongly influenced by molar mass and nucleation, contributing additionally to mechanics. 0 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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