Crystallization and Luminescence Properties of Polypropylene Fiber Containing Rare Earth Aluminates and a Sorbital Derivative Nucleating Agent

Polypropylene (PP) fibers with a sorbital derivative nucleating agent (SDN) and rare earth aluminates (SrAl2O4:Eu2+,Dy3+) were prepared via melt compounding and melt-spinning. Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics and luminescence properties of PP and luminous PP fibers were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and decay of the afterglow test. The crystallization temperature determined by DSC increasedwith the addition of the nucleating agent during the cooling process from 200 oC. The Jeziorny model successfully described the non-isothermal crystallization behavior of the luminous PP with various SDN contents. The crystal grain size and morphology of the sample with the SDN was different from that without nucleating agent. The luminous PP fabric having high initial brightness intensity, approximately 461 mcd g-1m-2, can be prepared with addition of 10 wt% of rare earthaluminates and 0.5 % of SDN.