Crystallization behavior of polypropylene/polycarbonate blends

Abstract

Crystallization behavior and morphology of polypropylene (PP)/polycarbonate (PC) blends have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the study of non-isothermal crystallization of the blends, the phenomenon of multiple crystallization peaks of PP/PC blends was related to the blend morphology in which PP was the dispersed phase as small droplets in the PC matrix. The phenomenon of a single crystallization peak of the PP/PC blends was related to the blend morphology in which PP was a continuous phase; in that case the crystallization peak temperatures of the blends were higher than that of the PP. The isothermal crystallization kinetics of the PP and PP/PC (80/20) blend were described by the Avrami equation. The results showed that the Avrami exponent of the PP/PC (80/20) blend was higher than that of the PP, and the crystallization rate of the PP/PC (80/20) blend was faster than that of the PP. The crystallization rate of the PP and PP/PC (80/20) blend were calculated according to the Hoffmann theory. Both the PP and PP/PC (80/20) blend had maximum crystallization rates. The temperature at the maximum crystallization rate for the PP/PC (80/20) blend was higher than that of the PP.