Kinetics pathway in the phase separation and crystallization of iPP/OBC blends

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Crystal Nucleation near Interfaces in Incompatible Polymer Blends

We apply molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate crystal nucleation in incompatible polymer blends under deep supercooling conditions. Simulations of isothermal nucleation are performed for phase-separated blends with different degrees of incompatibility. In weakly segregated blends, slow and incompatible chains in crystallizable polymer domains can significantly hinder the crystal nucleation and growth. When a crystallizable polymer is blended with a more mobile species in interfacial regions, enhanced molecular mobility leads to the fast growth of crystalline order. However, the incubation time remains the same as that in pure samples. By inducing anisotropic alignment near the interfaces of strongly segregated blends, phase separation also promotes crystalline order to grow near interfaces between different polymer domains.

Effect of melting temperature on interfacial interaction and mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP) fiber reinforced olefin block copolymers (OBCs)

Transcrystalline structures for the first time were observed at the interface of OBC/PP fiber, proving that the partially melted (170 °C) and totally melted (190 °C) PP fibers have stronger interactions with OBC than unmelted PP fibers does.