In this paper, the isothermal crystallization kinetics of a functional PP (FPP) with different grafting yields (GY)-methacryloxyethyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (DMC) grafted PP were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results showed that the crystallization rate of FPP (GY=4.83%) was the highest for all of the studied samples. Furthermore, for the FPP with different GY, the value of t1/2 became longer with increasing the grafting yield (GY). The possible explanation was that the quaternary ammonium groups introduced affected the crystallization process of the FPP in two opposite directions, i.e. promoting the nucleation and hindering the transport of the chain molecules towards the growing nuclei. Polarized optical micrographs showed that the DMC chains acted as nucleating agents, which accelerated the nucleation. In addition, the results showed the FPP had lower nucleation free energy than the PP. This study would be useful for designing the processing parameters of the grafted samples.

Keywords: crystallization; kinetics; methacryloxyethyltrimethyl ammonium; grafted; polypropylene.