Crystallization behavior and spherulite growth rate of isotactic polypropylene in isotactic polypropylene/natural rubber based thermoplastic elastomers

The melting and crystallization behavior of isotactic polypropylene/natural rubber (PP/NR) based thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry. The samples were scanned at a heating rate of 10°C/min under nitrogen atmosphere. The effects of blend ratio on the melting and crystallization characteristics of the blends were analyzed. Normalized crystallinity is unchanged by the addition of small amount of NR, but as the amount of rubber increases crystallinity increased for the 30/70 NR/PP and lowered for the 50/50 NR/PP blend system. Morphology of the blend was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Blend ratio showed a pronounced influence on the phase morphology of the NR/PP TPEs. As the amount of NR increases more than 50 wt % the system changes from dispersed to cocontinuous structure. Hot‐stage polarizing optical microscopy (POM) was used to study the radial growth of spherulite as a function of blend ratio, cooling rate, and crystallization temperature. Spherulite growth rate is marginally influenced by the rubber inclusions. The spherulite morphology observed under polarized optical microscopy is influenced by the blend morphology. It was found that for the cocontinuous 50/50 blend system, spherulites are much different from the usual appearance under polarized light. Attempts have been made to correlate the crystallization behavior with the morphology of the blend. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008