Shear‐induced shish‐kebab structures in isotactic polypropylene using acicular precipitated calcium carbonate as whisker

It has been reported in the technical literature that whiskers of rodlike single crystals can be used in order to generate shish‐kebab structures or other different lamellae morphologies during isothermal or dynamic crystallization of sheared or presheared polymer melts. The expected advantage of the changed crystalline structure is a reinforcing effect of the composite. A lot of papers reported about the application of inorganic and organic whiskers such as cellulose and chitin whiskers. This study reports on an attempt to use acicular PCC as appropriate whisker for improving mechanical properties of polypropylene. In this article special attention is given to demonstrate the effect of flow induced crystallization under varying shear conditions in order to improve the mechanical properties. The effects were demonstrated using rheology, thermal analysis, tensile testing, and transmission electron microscopy. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2057–2063, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers