Interactions between sorbitol‐type nucleator and additives for polypropylene

Abstract

The thermal properties of a sorbitol‐type nucleating agent (viz. 1,2,3‐trideoxy‐4,6:5,7‐bis‐O‐[(4‐propylphenyl)methylene]‐nonitol (TBPMN)) were examined in this study, and the influence of common processing additives assessed. In addition, we describe a novel approach to monitor in situ the self‐assembly of the nucleator in presence of additives by optical microscopy. The performance of sorbitol compounds is closely associated to their chemical structure and ability to self‐assemble. TBPMN formed elongated fibrils from the melt under inert atmosphere, in molted polypropylene, or in presence of antioxidants. However, calcium stearate (CaSt) and glycerol monostearate hampered growth, and yielded thinner fibrils. In presence of the additives, melting point depression of the nucleator occurred, and resulted in a lower degree of crystallinity upon cooling. Performance evaluation of the nucleator in polypropylene blends revealed an increased crystallization temperature when antioxidants were present, while CaSt inhibited nucleator activity. The effect of mono‐glycerides was found highly dependent on the processing conditions. Noteworthy, blends containing all the additives displayed the highest performance. This study highlights the importance of the preparation method of polymer additive blends to achieving the best performance in the final product. Characterization was performed by thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, optical microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry.

Identifying, Quantifying, and Recovering a Sorbitol-Type Petrochemical Additive in Industrial Wastewater and Its Subsequent Application in a Polymeric Matrix as a Nucleating Agent

“…Among the various instrumental techniques employed to investigate Millad NX 8000 and its role as a nucleation/crystallization agent in polymers, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) [ 25 , 26 ] and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) [ 26 ] have been utilized. Noteworthy studies, such as the comprehensive research conducted by Smith et al on the binary system of polypropylene and 1,3:2,4-bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol (DMDBS), have successfully determined the solubility of the additive using optical microscopy (OM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).…”

Morphology and crystallization kinetics of G‐resins and isotactic polypropylene

“…There are number of recent reports in Polymer Engineering and Science on the effect of incorporation of nanofiller or nucleator on the crystallization characteristics of iPP such as carbon nanotubes, [4][5][6] polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS), [7] graphene oxide, [8] β-nucleating agent, [5] and sorbitol-type nucleator. [9] To improve intrinsic material properties at the molecular level, one of the possible methods is to place a different co-monomer species at random position of iPP chain to modify primary structure of the polymer main chain and improve properties. This method usually causes a downward shift of the melting and crystallization temperature accompanied by the decreased crystallinity.…”

Gelation and Crystallization Phenomena in Polyethylene Plastomers Modified with Waxes

“…Controlling the crystallization of polyolefins in order to facilitate or even enable processing at economical speed is a constant challenge in the polymer industry. The application of nucleating agents [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ], but also of minor blend components [ 7 , 8 ], has been studied in the past more for isotactic polypropylene (iPP) than for polyethylene (PE), simply because the latter normally crystallizes much faster. This is quite different for PE plastomers, which are essentially single-site catalyst-based homogeneous linear low-density PEs (LLDPEs) combining low crystallinity, softness, and elasticity [ 9 , 10 ].…”