Crystallization kinetics of polypropylene - Part 4: Effect of unmodified and azide-modified PET and PA short fibres

The effect of short polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and nylon 66 (PA) fibres, and their chemical treatment with an azide derivative, on the PP crystallization kinetics and thermodynamics has been investigated. Both fibres are effective nucleant agents for polypropylene (PP) crystallization, giving rise to the phenomenon of PP transcrystallinity on their surface. However, the presence of azide groups on the chemical structure of the fibres produces a different effect on the PP crystallization kinetics. Azide-modified PET fibres give rise to an additional increase of the global rate of the PP crystallization process, but in this case the transcrystalline development of the PP is not so sensible as in the presence of the unmodified fibres. An opposite behaviour is observed with the azide-modified PA fibres. In general, it can be established for the studied composites that the spherulitic development of the polymer matrix comes from an instantaneous and athermal nucleation whose growth is not constant. It is also suggested that transcrystallinity and a good adhesion at the interface may take place independently one of each other. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.