The influence of wollastonite (CaSiO3) content on the crystallization properties and thermal
stability of polypropylene (PP) composites was investigated. The results showed that
the crystallization temperature, crystallization end temperature and crystallization temperature
interval, as well as the degree of crystallinity of the composites, were higher than
those of the unfilled PP resin, while the crystallization onset temperature was little
changed from that of the unfilled PP resin. The increase of degree of crystallinity for the
composites could be attributed to the heterogeneous nucleation of the CaSiO3 in the PP
matrix. The thermal stability increased with increasing filler weight fraction (ff); the
thermal decomposition rate decreased nonlinearly with increasingff. Finally, the dispersion
of the filler particles in the matrix was observed, and the mechanisms of thermal
stability and crystallizing behavior were discussed