Quiescent crystallization of natural fibers-polypropylene composites

The effect of natural fibers (vetiver grass and rossells) on quiescent crystallization of polypropylene (PP) composites was analyzed in this study. Also, equilibrium melting temperature (Tm⁰) of the composites was elucidated. Natural fiber-PP composites showed lower Tm⁰ when compared to neat PP. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied polymer science 2007-12, Vol.106 (5), p.2997-3006
Main Authors: Somnuk, Usa, Eder, Gerhard, Phinyocheep, Pranee, Suppakarn, Nitinat, Sutapun, Wimonlak, Ruksakulpiwat, Yupaporn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Composites
Crystallization
Exact sciences and technology
Fibers
Forms of application and semi-finished materials
Mathematical analysis
Melting
nucleation
Nuclei
Optical microscopes
Polymer industry, paints, wood
polypropylene
Polypropylenes
Scanning
spherulites
Technology of polymers
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Summary:The effect of natural fibers (vetiver grass and rossells) on quiescent crystallization of polypropylene (PP) composites was analyzed in this study. Also, equilibrium melting temperature (Tm⁰) of the composites was elucidated. Natural fiber-PP composites showed lower Tm⁰ when compared to neat PP. Thermal analysis was performed via differential scanning calorimeter to study the crystallization kinetics. Natural fiber-PP composites exhibited higher rate of crystallization than that of neat PP. Furthermore, spherulitic growth rate and transcrystallinity of the composites were investigated under a polarized light optical microscope. It was found that the growth rates of the composites were lower than that of neat PP. The spherulitic growth rates combined with the crystallization rates were used to calculate number of effective nuclei. It was shown that the number of effective nuclei of the composites was higher than that of neat PP. This suggested that natural fibers could act as a nucleating agent in the composite. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007
ISSN:0021-8995
1097-4628
DOI:10.1002/app.26883