Abstract
Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)/polypropylene (PP) composites in the presence of β-nucleating agent (β-NAs) were prepared by melt-blending, and the interfacial interaction and crystallisation behaviour were investigated. The experimental results indicated that strong hydrogen bonding interactions were generated between amino groups of β-NAs and silicon hydroxyl groups attached to POSS, allowing the absorption/anchoring of the former on the surface of latter. Compared to POSS, β-NAs exhibited higher nucleation effect on PP, as evidenced by an increment of the crystallisation temperature by 7°C in the presence of β-NAs. As a result, the absorbed β-NAs on the surface of POSS not only improved the interfacial interaction between POSS and polymer matrix using interfacial crystallisation but also promoted the formation of β-crystals with toughening effect, which is very important to prepare excellent-performance PP/POSS composite.
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