Preparation and characteristics of nano-CaCO3 supported β-nucleating agent of polypropylene

In this paper, nano-CaCO3 supported beta-nucleating agent for polypropylene (PP) was prepared by supporting pimelic acid on nano-CaCO3 with two methods. The thermal properties of pimelic acid and nano-CaCO3 supported beta-nucleating agent were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The results indicated that the formation of beta-nucleating agent supported on nano-CaCO3 was attributed to the chemical reaction between nano-CaCO3 and pimelic acid. The beta-nucleating agent was added to PP to examine its beta-nucleating ability for PP, the polymorphism of the PP was characterized by wide-angle X-ray diffractometer. The results of investigation showed that the nano-CaCO3 supported beta-nucleating agent exhibited higher nucleation ability and lower price compared to calcium pimelate beta-nucleating agent. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.