Influence of processing condition and HA content on the crystallization behavior of HA-filled EVA biocomposite

Hydroxyapatite/ethylene-vinyl acetate (HA/EVA) composites with a HA content of 30 and 50 wt% were prepared by injection molding. The crystallization behaviors of EVA under different injection pressure, annealing temperature, and HA content were investigated. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscope were used to evaluate the composites. The result of FTIR analysis infers the occurrence of hydrogen bonding between HA and EVA. XRD and DSC analyses show that the increasing injection pressure can accelerate the crystallization rate of EVA but it tends to decrease the crystallization degree slightly, which may be caused by the increase of EVA segmental activity and the loss of EVA crystallization order with the increase of pressure. The EVA crystallization degree can be improved by the annealing process. It is found that HA can induce more nucleation sites of EVA, but the crystallization degree of EVA decreases with the increase of HA content. The large content of HA acts to reduce the mobility of EVA crystallizable chain segments and inhibits the crystal growth of EVA. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 51:341-346, 2011. (C) 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers