Nucleation of polypropylene crystallization with gold nanoparticles. Part 2: relation between particle morphology and nucleation activity

0458266 - ÚMCH 2017 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Šlouf, Miroslav - Vacková, Taťana - Zhigunov, Alexander - Sikora, Antonín - Piorkowska, E.
Nucleation of polypropylene crystallization with gold nanoparticles. Part 2: relation between particle morphology and nucleation activity.
Journal of Macromolecular Science - Physics. Roč. 55, č. 4 (2016), s. 393-410. ISSN 0022-2348. E-ISSN 1525-609X
R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP205/10/0348; GA ČR(CZ) GA14-17921S
Institutional support: RVO:61389013
Keywords : crystallization * gold nanoparticles * isotactic polyproplylene
Subject RIV: JJ - Other Materials
Impact factor: 0.828, year: 2016

The influence of gold nanoparticle morphology on nucleation of isotactic polypropylene (PP) crystallization was investigated. Previous experiments indicated certain nucleation activity of gold nanoparticles, varying with their size. In this work, eight types of gold micro/nanoparticles were used: vacuum-sputtered nanostructures (nanoparticles, nanoislands, and nanolayers), chemically prepared isometric gold nanocrystals (5, 20, and 100 nm diameters), and two types of gold microcrystals with well-developed crystal facets [with (100) and (111) facets, respectively]. To minimize the effect of particle agglomeration, we used our recently introduced sandwich method, in which the nucleating agent was deposited between thin PP films and the nucleation was evaluated by polarized light microscopy (PLM), X-ray scattering (WAXS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The nucleation activity of Au particles in PP was lower than it might be expected from the previous studies and depended on their morphology. The nucleation activity of Au microcrystals with well-developed facets was higher than the activity of non-faceted Au nanocrystals.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0258565