Morphologies of injection molded isotactic polypropylene/ultra high molecular weight polyethylene blends

The morphologies in isotactic polypropylene (iPP)/ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) blend prepared with a Minijet injection molding machine have been studied. It is found that both the shear effect and the addition of UHMWPE greatly influence the morphologies of the PP matrix. Shishkebabs and beta-cylindrite morphology can be observed simultaneously in the subskin, where the shear effect is believed to be the greatest. With the increasing of the content of UHMWPE, the morphology of shish-kebab or beta-cylindrite structures become more conspicuous. The diameter and the distance between the row nuclei of the beta-cylindrites both increase as the location gradually moves to the center of the sample. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.