Novel polypropylene -nucleating agent with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane core: synthesis and application

摘要

Synthesis and nucleation ability of a novel silsesquioxane-based -nucleating agent for isotactic polypropylene (iPP) are presented. A silsesquioxane cage (POSS) was octa-functionalized with a commercially used nucleating agent, namely N-2,N-6-dicyclohexylnaphthalene-2,6-dicarboxamide (NU-100), and used as a carrier with the ability to promote crystallization of -phase in polypropylene matrix. Presented results include the synthesis route of the -nucleating agent (SF-B01) and a description of its nucleation ability in iPP. The influence of SF-B01 on iPP matrix was examined using differential scanning calorimetry, wide-angle X-ray scattering and static tensile tests. Investigations were complemented with polarized light optical microscopy upon non-isothermal crystallization of composites as well as scanning electron microscopy to qualitatively assess the filler distribution. Polypropylene samples modified with different amounts of NU-100 were used as reference. Modification carried out with both nucleating agents reveals their comparable efficiency, i.e. a structure rich in -phase is obtained in both cases. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry