The use of infrared spectroscopy for determination of polypropylene stereoregularity

This study examines the application of infrared (IR) spectrometry to the determination of polypropylene (PP) stereoregularity. The use of the absorption bands at 998 cm−1 and 841 cm−1 as indices of isotacticity and bands at 1167 cm−1 and 973 cm−1 as internal references have been explored. Calibration curves relating various absorption ratios to isotacticity as measured by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance are reported. The ratios A998/A973 and A841/A973 are the most useful and provide linear correlations with isotacticity. The effect of instrument type on the calibration has been investigated for both dispersive and Fourier transform type IR spectrometers. For samples annealed at room temperature the average of measurements on the same set of PP films by five instruments provide the calibrations: A998/A973 = 1.08 ± 0.02 (mm)−0.15 ± 0.03; and A841/A973 = 0.84 ± 0.06 (mm)−0.04 ± 0.02. High temperature annealing increases the crystallinity of the samples and the corresponding value of the absorption ratio but is not necessary for obtaining reproducible calibration curves.