A new perspective to enhance the II–I transition of polybutene-1

Abstract

The bottleneck for the application and potential utilization of polybutenene-1 (PB-1) with excellent physical and mechanical properties is its inevitable phase transition. An additive to PB-1 (trade name TAB-1) that accelerates this transition was used to enhance the transition and explore its mechanism with DSC and X-ray techniques. It was found that TAB-1 could enhance the transition efficiently. The total crystallinity of form II and form I rises in the initial stage of the transition. The crystallization temperature-related transitions of neat PB-1 and PB-1 containing 2 wt% TAB-1 were investigated. When form II was crystallized at lower and higher temperatures, then cooled to the same temperature and heated to the same temperature, the “more stable” form II that formed at higher temperature transformed into form I faster than the “less stable” form II that formed at lower temperature. A possible mechanism of the enhanced crystal transition of PB-1 containing TAB-1 was proposed and discussed. The formation of form I triggers the transition, and the key to form I formation is the form II-related packed-mesophase during the transition.