Numerous studies have focused on polymer mixtures aimed at the potential applications of these materials. This work analyzed the effect of polymer reprocessing and the type and concentration of compatibilizer on the isothermal crystallization kinetics of polypropylene/wood flour composites. The composites, which were polypropylene grafted with acrylic acid (PP-g-AA) and maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA), were processed in a twin screw extruder with and without compatibilizer. Reprocessed polypropylene reached complete crystallization in less time than the composites with virgin polypropylene. The addition of wood flour to the composites did not change the kinetics significantly compared to that of the pure polymers, but the compatibilizers did, particularly PP-g-AA. The nucleation exponent (n) and crystallization rate (K) were calculated from Avrami plots. The values of n ranged from 2 to 3, indicating instantaneous to sporadic nucleation. The crystallization half-time of reprocessed polypropylene was shorter than that of virgin polypropylene and of the compositions containing PP-g-AA compatibilizer. The activation energy of crystallization and the equilibrium melting temperature were calculated, respectively, from Arrhenius and Hoffman-Weeks plots. Both of these parameters showed lower values in the composites, particularly in the ones containing compatibilizers.

In recent years, the interest in polymer recycling has increased. However, in every reprocessing step the material undergoes shear stress and is affected by temperature and oxygen. The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of multiple extrusion in the generation of functional groups, namely hydroperoxide, carbonyl, and transvinylene. Low density polyethylene was reprocessed three times in a single screw extruder. In each recycling step hot pressed films were prepared. These films were submitted to a heat treatment in an oven with air circulation and renovation to proceed with aging tests at different times and temperatures. The results obtained showed that all functional groups had their concentration increased with the increase in number of reprocessing, the aging time and temperature of the heat treatment. The factorial design was applied to verify the influence of these parameters. All the parameters had significant effects, since their regression coefficients had the same order of magnitude, with the most influential parameter being the aging temperature, followed by the aging time and number of extrusions. Most of the interactions were influential, indicating that the formation of functional groups depends upon their interaction, and not only on their isolated effects.

O propósito do presente trabalho foi testar a validade do Método da Curva Mestre para a determinação da constante de cristalização não-isotérmica de polipropilenos modificados com anidrido maleico e ácido acrílico. Experimentos de cristalização não-isotérmica foram realizados a diversas taxas de resfriamento por meio de Calorimetria Exploratória Diferencial (DSC). Para serem usadas no Método da Curva Mestre, as curvas originais obtidas em DSC foram corrigidas em termos da defasagem de temperatura entre a amostra polimérica e o forno do equipamento. A equação de Nakamura e a constante de cristalização determinada foram utilizadas para simular as curvas de cristalinidade relativa em função da temperatura para as diversas taxas de resfriamento. As curvas simuladas apresentaram boa concordância com as curvas experimentais para ambas as amostras de polipropileno modificado, mostrando que o Método da Curva Mestre pode ser empregado com sucesso para este polímero.

The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the Master Curve Approach in the determination of the non-isothermal crystallization constant, for samples of two modified polypropylenes (grafted maleic anhydride and grafted acrylic acid polypropylenes). Non-isothermal crystallization experiments were carried out in a differential scanning calorimeter, DSC, at several cooling rates. The original DSC curves were corrected for the temperature lag between the sample and the DSC furnace. The Nakamura equation and the non-isothermal crystallization constant obtained by the Master Curve Approach were employed to simulate the curves of relative crystallinity as a function of temperature, for the different cooling rates. The generated curves presented good agreement with the experimental data for both samples of grafted polypropylene, showing that the Master Curve Approach can be successfully employed for these polymers.