Comparative X-ray scattering, microscopical, and mechanical studies on rectangular plates injection molded from different types of isotactic polypropylene

Rectangular plates were injection molded from two grades of commercial polypropylene (PP) differing in the molar mass distribution. The mold was mechanically sealed when a desired pressure p(iota max) (up to 1560 bar) was reached. Samples were taken from each plate at different distances from the gate and were investigated by applying various methods. In spatially resolved wide-angle X-ray studies, the cross section of the samples was scanned with a fine X-ray beam (collimated by a Kratky small-angle camera) and the intensity of scattering was registered by a linear detector as a function of position in the cross section. The evaluation of the scattering data delivered profiles of several parameters, describing the distribution of crystallite modifications beta-PP and gamma-PP, the degree of orientation, the size of crystallites, and interplanar spacing, depending on the distance from surface. These results and those from measurements of birefringence and elongation at break, and from polarization microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, provided details of the layered structures in the plates, at different now lengths, and allowed far-reaching statements about the influence of molecular properties and processing conditions on the development of texture in the plates.