Exploring the effect of cooling rate on non-isothermal crystallization of copolymer polypropylene by fast scanning calorimetry

Abstract

Polypropylene is commonly used as a binder for ceramic injection molding, and rapid cooling is often encountered during processing. However, the crystallization behavior of polypropylene shows a strong dependence on cooling rate due to its semi-crystalline characteristics. Therefore, the influence of cooling rate on the quality of final product cannot be ignored. In this study, the fast differential scanning calorimetry (FSC) test was performed to study the influence of cooling rate on the non-isothermal crystallization behavior and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of a copolymer polypropylene (PP BC03B). The results show that the crystallization temperatures and crystallinity decrease as the cooling rate increases. In addition, two exothermic peaks occur when cooling rate ranges from 30 to 300 K·s−1, indicating the formation of another crystal phase. Avrami, Ozawa and Mo equations were used to explore the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics, and it can be concluded that the Mo method is suitable for this study.