Effects of crystal phase transformation on tensile properties of polybutene‐1/cellulose composites

Abstract

Morphologies and tensile properties of polybutene-1 (PB), PB/fibrous cellulose (FC), and the PB/silanized FC with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) composites were studied. The scanning electron microscope micrographs exhibited the adherent PB parts on the FC and the silanized FC, suggesting that there was a certain affinity of PB to them. The spherulite observation suggested that there existed a secondary bonding between the PB and the FC or the silanized FC. These tensile properties were remarkably affected by the PB crystal phase transformation from the metastable tetragonal (II) to the stable hexagonal (I) phase. The transformation caused the ageing embrittlement even at r.t. In particular, the ageing embrittlement rate of the PB/silanized FC was much higher than other samples. Because the silanized FC became the excellent nucleating agent for the PB crystallization, the PB/silanized FC was found to easily form the thicker lamella having a higher probability of containing a crystal defect to serve as a starting point of the transformation. The higher transformation rate depended on the thicker lamella formation rate and its amount.

Effects of zinc isophthalate on the crystallization and crystal transformation behavior of polybutene alloy

“…Stretching [14][15][16][17][18], pressured carbon dioxide atmosphere [19,20], proper molecular weight [21,22], blending [23][24][25][26][27], stepwise annealing [28,29], copolymerization [30][31][32][33][34][35] and the addition of nucleating agent (NA) [36,37] were confirmed effective to accelerate the phase transition from form II to form I and the crystallization rate of PB. Of these methods, blending with polypropylene (PP) to make polybutene alloy (PB-A) and the addition of NA are more convenient ways to enhance the mechanical properties and crystal transformation rate [38][39][40][41] compared with others.…”