Thermoplastic
vulcanizates (TPVs) are among the most concerned
polymer materials because they exhibit a combination of good elasticity
and easy processibility and recyclability. Herein, a β-nucleating
agent (β-NA) was introduced into ethylene propylene diene monomer
(EPDM)/polypropylene (PP) TPVs through a simple and effective postprocessing
method to induce the formation of β-PP crystals for preparing
high-performance TPV products. High content of β-PP crystals
is achieved in TPV, but the total crystallinity of the PP matrix remains
constant. Unexpectedly, both mechanical strength and elasticity of
TPV with β-PP crystals (β-TPV) are significantly higher
than those of TPV with α-PP crystals (α-TPV). The change
in the structure of both α-TPV and β-TPV during real-time
deformation and the deformation mechanism was carefully studied by
combining Synchrotron two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction
(2D-WAXD) and atomic force microscopy nanomechanical mapping (AFM-NM)
techniques. The mechanism for the simultaneous improvement of mechanical
strength and elasticity of TPV is revealed.
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