Early Stage Crystallization in Isotactic Polypropylene: Influence of Nanofillers

Formation of helices in isotactic polypropylene was studied using on-lattice, coarse-grained, Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations. Influence of polymer-particle interaction and particle size on polymer crystallization was studied by inserting isotropic particles into neat iPP melt. Results indicated that the surface of isotropic particle exerts a strong orientation effect on helices and their ordering. In addition, isotropic particle shows a length scale effect on the formation of long helical structures at low temperatures, i.e., below melting temperature.