Effect of hydrophobic nano‐silica/β‐nucleating agent on the crystallization behavior and mechanical properties of polypropylene random copolymers

Abstract

AbstractIn this work, hydrophobic nano‐silica (SiO2) and β‐nucleating agent are incorporated into polypropylene random copolymer (PP‐R) matrix by melt blending. The effect of the content of nano‐SiO2/β‐nucleating agent on the crystallization and mechanical behaviors of PP‐R was investigated in detail. For a nano‐SiO2 content of 0.5 wt% and a β‐nucleating agent content of 0.5 wt%, the tensile strength and impact strength of the composite were in a more balanced position. Regarding isothermal and non‐isothermal crystallization experiments, nano‐SiO2/β‐nucleating agent significantly accelerated the nucleation and growth of crystallites with a synergistic nucleation effect. Also, the crystallization kinetics of PP‐R/nano‐SiO2/β‐nucleating agent, PP‐R/nano‐SiO2 and PP‐R/β‐nucleating agent composites were analyzed and compared using the Avrami equation. The results showed that the PP‐R/nano‐SiO2/β‐nucleating agent composites have better crystallization rate and shorter semi‐crystallization time. This study shows far‐reaching theoretical and practical implications for accelerating the development of new high‐performance PP‐R materials. © 2023 The Authors. Polymer International published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Industrial Chemistry.