Proteus 70

The non-isothermal crystallization behavior of MPP and MPP/SEBS composites was investigated using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC214, NETZSCH Instruments Manufacturing GmbH, Selb, Germany). For the DSC test, foamed samples weighing approximately 10 mg were ramped up from 30 to 230 °C at a ramp rate of 20 °C/min under a nitrogen atmosphere. The samples were held at a constant temperature of 230 °C for 5 min after completion and then cooled down to 30 °C at a cooling rate of 10 °C/min to eliminate the thermal history of the material. This procedure was repeated to complete the test. The DSC data obtained were analyzed using the NETZSCH Proteus-70 software. The following equation was used to estimate the crystallinity: $$X_C=\frac{\Delta H_m}{\Delta H_0·\varphi }\times 100\%$$
where $\Delta H_m$ is the enthalpy of fusion of PP in the blend, $\Delta H_0$ is the enthalpy of PP with 100% crystallinity, assumed to be 209 J/g [17 (link)], and $\varphi$ is the weight fraction of PP in the blend.

DSC curves of pure components and CL–CH mixtures were recorded using a 214 Polyma (Netzsch, Selb, Germany) heat flux-type calorimeter. The measurements and data analysis were carried out using Proteus 7.0 software (Netzsch, Selb, Germany). Calibration of the DSC instrument was performed using the melting points of indium (156.6 °C), tin (231.9 °C), bismuth (271.4 °C), and zinc (419.5 °C) as standards [42 (link)]. DSC samples were prepared by weighing approximately 4–5 mg of CL, CH, or the appropriate CL–CH mixture in a standard 40 µL aluminium crucible. The crucible was next sealed with a pierced lid. An empty standard crucible, with a pierced lid, was used as reference. DSC measurements were run in triplicate, in the temperature range of 10–160 °C and a heating rate of 5 °C min⁻¹. Dry nitrogen (99.999% purity), with a flow rate of 50 cm³ min⁻¹, was used as a purge gas.