Synergistic Toughening Effect of Olefin Block Copolymer and Highly Effective β-Nucleating Agent on the Low-Temperature Toughness of Polypropylene Random Copolymer

In the present work, the synergistic toughening effect of olefin block copolymer (OBC) and a highly effective beta nucleating agent (NA)-Calcium salt of pimelic acid (CaPim) on polypropylene random copolymer (PPR) was studied. Mechanical tests showed that with the introduction of 0.1 wt % CaPim, there was almost no change in the low-temperature (below 0 degrees C) toughness of PPR. Although introduction of OBC could obviously improve the toughness at 23 degrees C, high content is needed to effectively toughen PPR at low temperature. By coadding OBC and CaPim, PPR/OBC/NA blends showed not only great enhancement of toughness over the temperature range tested but also lower OBC content of undergoing brittle-ductile transition compared with PPR/OBC blends. The crystalline structure, crystallization behavior and phase morphology were investigated to explore the possible synergistic toughening mechanism. The high beta-crystal content formed in PPR matrix and the finer distribution of OBC phase might be responsible for the superior toughness achieved.