Polypmpylene/attapulgite nanoeompesites were prepared by melt blending The effects of attapulgite on crystallization of lop were investigated by meslls of X-ray diffraction(XRD). It was found that the(110) plane spacing of attapulgite in the composites did not expand．It implies that no intercalation phenomenon occurs in these composites．The add of attapulgite made the micmerystal dimension of polyprcpylene increase The thermal behavior of PP nanocomposites was analysized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)

and the results showed that a proper amount of altapulgite can increase the crystallization temperature and crystallization rate of PP．and so make the erystallinity increase The spherulite morphology was observed by polarized optical microscopy (POM)

and the addition of attapulgite acted as a nucleating agents for the crystallization of PP and reduced the sphemlite dimension When the content of attapulgite reached about 10 percent．no sphemlite was observed．The morphology of attapulgite particles and their dispersion in the PP matrix were analysized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and atomic force microscopy(AFM)．It was found that the attapulgite particles have a fibrous or rodlike morphology and almost homogeneously dispersed in the PP matrix

without preferential orientation．