Tensile and Flexural Properties of β-Nucleated Polypropylenes

Abstract

Resuming our previous work on β-nucleated polypropylenes, namely on their impact strength, our present work directs attention towards a flexural and tensile behavior of β-nucleated polypropylenes (β-iPP). For the purposes of this work, commercially available isotactic polypropylene was modified using various amounts of a specific nucleating agent based on N, N′-dicyclohexylnaphtalene-2,6-dicarboxamide (NU100). From the prepared blends test specimens were prepared by injection molding. Structural characterization (crystallinity and the content of β-phase) was carried out by X-ray diffractometry. A multipurpose mechanical property tester was used for determination of tensile and flexural properties. It was found that β-phase content decreased both tensile and flexural strength; on the other hand, the presence of β-phase dramatically raised cold drawability of the injection-molded specimens; addition of 0.03 wt.% of NU100 in the injection-molded parts led to a more than 800 % increase of the draw ratio of specimens tested at the testing speed of 100 mm/min. Furthermore, tensile testing carried out using various strain speeds (10 and 100 mm/min) revealed that higher ductility of the material containing β-phase is particularly pronounced by faster deformation processes, such as fast drawing or impact load.