Properties of polyethylene-polypropylene blends: crystallization behaviour

The crystallization behavior of high density polyethylene/isotactic polypropylene blends (HDPE/PP) was investigated. The overall kinetics of crystallization of HDPE may be strongly influenced by the addition of a small fraction of PP. At 398 K the half crystallization time of the blend containing 10% by weight of PP is around three times larger than for pure polyethylene. This effect may be accounted for by an increase in the melt viscosity of liquid HDPE caused by PP molecules. For crystallization temperatures high enough to prevent HDPE crystallization (Tc > 400 K), the presence in the melted blends of liquid HDPE influences the crystallization of PP. In fact, the half time of crystallization of PP increases with increasing the fraction of HDPE in the blend. The kinetics show a minimum at a well defined composition (around 60% in PP) before phase inversion. The same trend is observed when the surface free energy of folding and the lamellar thickness of crystals are reported as function of composition.