2.3.2. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)

The crystallization and melting temperatures of the PP/MWCNT nanocomposites were investigated using the DSC analysis performed on a DSC 200 F3 Maia^® (NETZSCH-Gerätebau GmbH, Selb, Germany) differential scanning calorimeter. A heating-cooling-heating cycle between 50 °C to 250 °C at a rate of 10 °C/min in N₂ atmosphere (50 mL/min) was applied. The apparent enthalpies of fusion were calculated from the area under the endothermic peaks. The melting temperature (T_m) was obtained from the endothermic peaks of the second run curves, whereas the crystallization temperature (T_c) was determined from the peak of the first exothermic curve. The degree of crystallization was calculated by the following equation

where ΔHm is the melt enthalpy of the sample, ΔH0 is the melting enthalpy of 100% crystalline PP (209 J/g for PP [55,56]) and φ is the weight fraction of MWCNTs.