Interplay of fractionated crystallization and morphology in polypropylene/poly(ε-caprolactone) blends

The thermal behavior of melt-mixed polypropylene (PP)/poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) blends was investigated with differential scanning calorimetry, and it was quantitatively related to the morphology observed through scanning electron microscopy. The PP/PCL blends were immiscible in the whole composition range; however, some interesting phenomena were found. Blends with low PP contents crystallized in a fractionated fashion. By applying a self-nucleation procedure, we demonstrated that this occurred because of a lack of highly active heterogeneities within the confined PP domains. On the other hand, PP acted as a nucleating agent for PCL, and when the PP content was reduced, the higher surface/volume ratio increased its nucleating activity. The nucleating effect was improved when the PP was self-nucleated because of the better nucleating effect of PP annealed crystals. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.