Microstructure and Thermal Properties of Polypropylene/Clay Nanocomposites with TiCl4/MgCl2/Clay Compound Catalyst

Abstract

Polypropylene (PP)/clay nanocomposites were synthesized by in situ intercalative polymerization with TiCl4/MgCl2/clay compound catalyst. Microstructure and thermal properties of PP/clay nanocomposites were studied in detail. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra indicated that PP/clay nanocomposites were successfully prepared. Both wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) examination proved that clay layers are homogeneously distributed in PP matrix. XRD patterns also showed that theαphase was the dominate crystal phase of PP in the nanocomposites. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) examinations confirmed that thermal stability of PP/clay nanocomposites was markedly superior to pure PP. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) scans showed that the melt temperature and the crystallinity of nanocomposites were slightly lower than those of pure PP due to crystals imperfections.