Structure and morphology development during deformation of propylene based ethylene-propylene copolymer and its blends with isotactic polypropylene

The structure and morphology development during the deformation of metallocene based ethylene - propylene copolymers with dominant propylene moiety (C3 M-EP) and its isotactic polypropylene (M-iPP) blends were investigated by simultaneous small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) using synchrotron radiation, high temperature tensile testing and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). X-ray results showed that the structure and morphology in the blends of M-iPP/C3 M-EP are dictated by the M-iPP component. During stretching at room temperatures, both pure M-iPP and polymer blends exhibited the same transition from the α-form crystal to the mesophase. However, the α-form was found to be unchanged during the deformation of C3 M-EP copolymer, which indicated that the effect of local stress on the crystal domain in pure copolymer was too small to induce the phase transition. Although the DSC results showed that the blends in their isotropic state were immiscible with each other, the mechanical properties of the blends at high temperature (70 °C) indicated that they follow the conventional rule of mixing.