Abstract
The formation and relaxation of shish in molten isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and two samples containing different commercial nucleating particles was studied during and after continuous shear flow. In-situ measurements of the shish were made by simultaneous wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering (rheo-SAXS/WAXS) using synchrotron radiation. In the SAXS patterns, sharp meridional reflections were observed in all three samples during the initial stages of shear flow. Their presence indicates that shish form in discrete steps, by the aggregation of pointlike nuclei into oriented threads. Compared to pure iPP, the addition of both nucleants increased the amount and the dimensions of shish formed. However, the shish also relaxed faster in the presence of both nucleated materials. This behavior was attributed to the particles inducing lower molecular weight chains to participate in shish formation. The particle aspect ratio was observed to greatly influence shish formation. This is explained by modification of...
Published Version
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