No description available.

This diploma thesis deals with the study of isothermal crystallization of nanocomposite materials based on isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and nanosilica, depending on the volume fraction (0, 2, 4 and 6 %) and type of silica and the crystallization temperature. Fumed silica and four types of silica with different surface treatment were used as filler. The crystallization performed at temperatures 136, 138, 140 and 142 °C has been studied in-situ using polarized optical microscope and the crystallization rate was evaluated from the growing radius of spherulites. It can be stated that particles of silica have been inbuilt into the spherulites due to the linear growth of spherulites of all composite materials. The most significant increase of the crystallization rate of iPP was caused by fumed silica, the most significant decrease was caused by silica TS-720 at volume fraction 4 %. The crystallization rate (G) has been slightly increased with the increasing volume fraction of filler at 136 °C, the G slightly decreased at 138 °C and there was no trend of G for two higher temperatures. Also, it was not possible to exactly evaluate the influence of the surface treatments. The reason is the most probably uneven (non-homogenous) distribution of nanosilica as revealed thermogravimetric analysis. The crystallization kinetics was evaluated according to the Lauritzen-Hoffmann theory. The morphological part of the study showed that iPP was in ? and ß-structure and spherulites of ? phase were of the type I, II and mixed.