Effects of MXene on Nonisothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Isotactic Polypropylene

Wanxin Peng; Ran Hu; Weijiao Jiang; Jian Kang; Jingping Li; Ya Cao; Ming Xiang

doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c02970

Effects of MXene on Nonisothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Isotactic Polypropylene

ACS Omega. 2021 Jul 22;6(30):19973-19982. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c02970. eCollection 2021 Aug 3.

Authors

Wanxin Peng¹, Ran Hu¹, Weijiao Jiang¹, Jian Kang¹, Jingping Li², Ya Cao¹, Ming Xiang¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University, No. 24 South Section 1, Yihuan Road, 610065 Chengdu, China.
² Office of Scientific Research Development, Sichuan University, No. 24 South Section 1, Yihuan Road, 610065 Chengdu, China.

Abstract

MXenes, a family of two-dimensional transition-metal carbides/nitrides, have attracted great attention and shown promising application in polymer composites. In this study, a typical MXene Ti₃C₂T _x was prepared by selective etching. The structure and morphology of Ti₃C₂T _x were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, and the results proved that Ti₃C₂T _x was successively fabricated. Then, Ti₃C₂T _x /isotactic polypropylene composites with different Ti₃C₂T _x dosages were fabricated, and the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics and melting behavior of the composites were investigated. The results indicated that when a small amount of Ti₃C₂T _x was added, the crystallization parameters including the crystallization peak temperature and the crystallization rate increased, suggesting that crystallization was promoted. When the weight percentage of Ti₃C₂T _x exceeded 1%, the crystallization parameters showed a reverse trend, suggesting that crystallization was hindered. The activation energy of composites with 0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 wt % Ti₃C₂T _x were calculated to be -164.5, -196.5, -193.8, and -147.95 kJ/mol, respectively, revealing that the crystallization of composites is concentration-dependent. The impact of Ti₃C₂T _x dosage on the crystalline structure of the composites was studied using XRD. The related mechanism was proposed.