The cocrystallization behavior of binary blends of isotactic polypropylene and propylene-ethylene random copolymers

摘要

Rapidly crystallized blends of metallocene isotactic polypropylene and propylene-ethylene random copolymers with an ethylene content varying from 0.76-7 mol.% were found to cocrystallize to different degrees depending on the composition of the comonomer and content of copolymer in the blend. The degree of molecular mixing was studied using differential scanning calorimetry and solvent extraction techniques. A high extent of cocrystallization is obtained in the whole composition range of blends with a copolymer having up to approx2 mol.% of ethylene. The degree of cocrystallization decreases gradually with increasing ethylene content or with increasing copolymer content in the blend. It is found that for ethylene contents as high as 5-7 mol.% the copolymer rich blends show partial separate crystallization of the propylene ethylene copolymer. Thus, these crystals were selectively extracted at temperatures just above the dissolution temperature of the pure copolymer. In these blends, the fraction content of segments from the copolymer molecules incorporated in the cocrystal is low, yet it prevents extraction of these moleculars at temperatures above the dissolution temperature of the copolymer. The degree of cocrystallization is explained by differences in crystallization kinetics of the pure components. The percentage of extracted material was found to be directly related to the dissolution temperature of the cocrystal which was also found to be a linear function of the inverse of the crystallite thickness. The high extent of cocrystallization observed for these polypropylene blends contrasts with comparable blends of polyethylenes. The blends of linear PE with a copolymer of 4 mol.% branch units and higher, form separate crystals even after rapid crystallization.