Different effects of silane and carboxyled polypropylene on crystal morphology of polypropylene/molecular sieves type 5A composites

Abstract The silane KH‐550 and carboxyled polypropylene (EPP) were used as compatibilizers in this study. The effect of them on crystalline morphology of polypropylene/molecular sieves type 5A (PP/5A) composites was investigated. IR illustrated that 5A interacts with EPP by forming molecule interaction or hydrogen bonds, but interacts with silane by covalent bonds. Polarized optical microscopy (POM) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) revealed that a suitable amount of silane can promote β‐crystal formation in PP, and the average size of spherulites in the PP/5A/silane is smaller than that of PP. EPP interacts with 5A by molecule interaction and cocrystallizes with PP, leading to the crystal morphology of PP/5A/EPP resembles to that of pure PP. Significant difference was detected in the effect of the two compatibilizers, which attributed to the different compatibility mechanisms. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007