TRANSCRYSTALLINITY PHENOMENA IN FIBER-REINFORCED POLYPROPYLENE .2. MORPHOLOGY, THERMAL AND MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES RELATIONSHIPS

The effect of short-length carbon and Kevlar fibers on the crystallization of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) in composites prepared by compression molding has been investigated. The tendency of carbon and Kevlar fibers to nucleate the iPP during isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization has been evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry. The influence of different thermal histories used to prepare the unreinforced and reinforced samples on the crystallization parameters of iPP was examined. In addition, the tensile behavior was related to the resulting morphologies of the samples. It was observed that the crystallinity content, obtained by using different thermal treatments (slowly cooling or quenching), gives rise to different morphologies by influencing the mechanical behavior of materials as well. Moreover, the composites obtained by slow cooling seem to present a better fiber/matrix adhesion then that found in quenched samples. Possible underlying microstructures, which can explain the properties and the morphological characteristics, are also discussed.