A NOVEL APPROACH TO RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION FOR THE GELATION IN POLYMER CRYSTALLIZATION

The isothermal crystallizations of three kinds of commercial isotactic polypropylene have been studied by DSC and rheometric experiments, in a range of temperatures where the rate of crystallization is moderate. As the crystallization proceeds, volume contraction induces tensile force upon the parallel plates. The tensile force relaxed quickly in liquid states,but after a critical amount of the relative crystallinity, it starts to accumulate in the static test, that is, with the motionless parallel plates. A new method to determine the liquid-solid transition by the static tensile force is proposed and compared with two dynamic methods of detecting liquid-solid transition, that is, the power-law modulus theory and the yield modulus model. The tensile force method predicted considerably earlier transition than the dynamic methods, and the corresponding DSC data indicate relative crystallinity of larger than 0.2 at the transition times. The limitation of dynamic methods and other possible errors have been analyzed. While the dynamic methods are suitable for slow crystallization, the tensile force method is more appropriate for the crystallization of moderate rates. Moreover, it has the advantage of almost not disturbing the crystallizing materials before the transition.

A NOVEL APPROACH TO RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION FOR THE GELATION IN POLYMER CRYSTALLIZATION

The isothermal crystallizations of three kinds of commercial isotactic polypropylene have been studied by DSC and rheometric experiments, in a range of temperatures where the rate of crystallization is moderate. As the crystallization proceeds, volume contraction induces tensile force upon the parallel plates. The tensile force relaxed quickly in liquid states,but after a critical amount of the relative crystallinity, it starts to accumulate in the static test, that is, with the motionless parallel plates. A new method to determine the liquid-solid transition by the static tensile force is proposed and compared with two dynamic methods of detecting liquid-solid transition, that is, the power-law modulus theory and the yield modulus model. The tensile force method predicted considerably earlier transition than the dynamic methods, and the corresponding DSC data indicate relative crystallinity of larger than 0.2 at the transition times. The limitation of dynamic methods and other possible errors have been analyzed. While the dynamic methods are suitable for slow crystallization, the tensile force method is more appropriate for the crystallization of moderate rates. Moreover, it has the advantage of almost not disturbing the crystallizing materials before the transition.