On the influence of nucleation on the toughness of iPP/EPR blends with different rubber molecular architectures

The influence of α-and β-nucleating agents on the fracture performance of two different 32 wt% rubber modified isotactic Polypropylene (iPP) reactor blends is discussed as a function of the phase morphology of the investigated systems. Nucleation for systems with a large inter-part...

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Bibliographic Details
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Budapest University of Technology and Economics 2008-06-01
Series:eXPRESS Polymer Letters
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Online Access:http://www.expresspolymlett.com/letolt.php?file=EPL-0000612&mi=cd
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Summary:The influence of α-and β-nucleating agents on the fracture performance of two different 32 wt% rubber modified isotactic Polypropylene (iPP) reactor blends is discussed as a function of the phase morphology of the investigated systems. Nucleation for systems with a large inter-particle distance was found to have only a limited impact on the temperature at which the ductile-brittle transition occurs, negative for α-nucleated blends, almost negligible for β-nucleated resins. For blends exhibiting a small inter-particular distance between their ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR) phase, toughness was promoted slightly by α-nucleation and to a large extent by β-nucleation as compared to a non-nucleated reference. These findings raise the importance of mechanistic synergies between the rubbery phase and the matrix to maximize the fracture resistance of blends.
ISSN:1788-618X