Klaas Remerie

Industrial Applications of Fast Scanning DSC: New Opportunities for Studying Polyolefin Crystallization

This overview attempts to motivate and address the background of industrial interest in fast scanning thermal analysis methods with some of the most frequently applied methods and protocols being summarized. Although the utilized approaches and protocols are generic with respect to industrial type polymer resins, particular emphasis will be on polypropylene systems. The latter are characterized by relatively low crystallization rates and nucleation density, and hence, experimental fast scanning calorimetric techniques which are available on a (more) routine basis can provide significant added value. Of particular interest is in this case: To reach the isothermal crystallization temperature without any ‘disturbance’ of seed structures which can be present in efficiently nucleated systems during the early stages of crystallization before reaching the isothermal crystallization temperature. To obtain a disordered PP glass by applying cooling rates far above the crystallization rate, thus enabling studies on the crystallization mechanism under controlled conditions even during cold crystallization from low temperature.