Isothermal and nonisothermal cold crystallization kinetics of poly(<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-lactide)/functionalized eggshell powder composites

Functionalized eggshell powder (NES) with nucleating surface of calcium phenylphosphonic acid (PPCa) for poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) was compounded with PLLA via melt blending to improve the cold crystallization process of PLLA. The cold crystallization behavior of the PLLA/NES composites was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The isothermal cold crystallization rates have been enhanced obviously in the PLLA/NES composites than in the neat PLLA, indicative of the excellent nucleating effects of NES on PLLA. For the nonisothermal cold crystallization, the overall crystallization rate of PLLA increased with both increasing NES loadings and heating rate. It was found that the Avrami equation and the combined Ozawa–Avrami model could describe the experiment data successfully.     

Reflection–absorption infrared spectroscopy investigation of the crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene terephthalate) ultrathin films

Reflection–absorption infrared spectroscopy was used to study the crystallization behavior of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) ultrathin films. The crystallinity of ultrathin films was estimated by the fraction of trans conformers of PET. The isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of ultrathin films with different thicknesses were investigated. The thinner PET film showed slower kinetics during isothermal crystallization than the thicker film. Moreover, the final crystallinity of films with various thicknesses were reduced with decreasing thickness. An Avrami equation was used to fit the acquired results. The Avrami exponents decreased with the film thickness. As for the nonisothermal crystallization, the cold‐crystallization starting temperature shifted to a lower temperature as the film thickness increased. The influence of the substrate on the crystallization kinetics of the films was also studied. The half‐crystallization times and final crystallinities of ultrathin films adsorbed onto a self‐assembled‐monolayer‐treated surface and an untreated substrate were clearly different, although their thickness dependence was similar. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4440–4447, 2004     

Analysis of the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics in three linear aromatic polyester systems

Melt or cold crystallization kinetics has a strong bearing on morphology and the extent of crystallization, which significantly affects the physical properties of polymeric materials. Nonisothermal crystallization kinetics are often analyzed by the classical Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov (JMAK) model or one of its variants, even though they are based on an isothermal assumption. As a result, during the nonisothermal (e.g. constant heating or cooling rate) crystallization of polymeric material, different sets of model parameters are required to describe crystallization at different rates, thereby increasing the total number of model parameters. In addition, due to the uncorrelated nature of these model parameters with the cooling or heating rate, accurate modeling at any intermediate condition is not possible. In the present work, these two limitations of the conventional approach have been eliminated by exhibiting the existence of a functional relationship between cooling or heating rate and effective activation energy during nonisothermal melt or cold crystallization in three linear aromatic polyesters. Furthermore, it has been shown that when the JMAK model is used in conjunction with this functional relationship, it is possible to precisely predict the experimental nonisothermal melt or cold crystallization kinetics at any linear cooling or heating rate with a single set of model parameters.     

Nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(ε‐caprolactone) blocks in double crystalline triblock copolymers containing poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) and poly(ε‐caprolactone) units

The poly(3‐hydroxbutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate)/poly(ε‐caprolactone) block copolymers (PHCLs) with three different weight ratios of PCL blocks (38%, named PHCL‐38; 53%, named PHCL‐53; and 60%, named PHCL‐60) were synthesized by using PHBV with two hydroxyl end groups to initiate ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone. During DSC cooling process, melt crystallization of PHCL‐53 at relatively high cooling rates (9, 12, and 15 °C min^?1) and PHCL‐60 at all the selected cooling rates corresponded to PCL blocks so that PHCL‐53 and PHCL‐60 were used to study the nonisothermal crystallization behaviors of PCL blocks. The kinetics of PCL blocks in PHCL‐53 and PHCL‐60 under nonisothermal crystallization conditions were analyzed by Mo equation. Mo equation was successful in describing the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of PCL blocks in PHCLs. Crystallization activation energy were estimated using Kissinger's method. The results of kinetic parameters showed that both blocks crystallized more difficultly than corresponding homopolymers. With the increase of PCL content, the crystallization rate of PCL block increased gradually. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

聚丙烯-g-聚氨酯共聚物的非等温结晶动力学研究

用DSC法研究了聚丙烯 (PP)和聚丙烯接枝聚氨酯的共聚物 (PP g PU)在不同冷却速率下的非等温结晶动力学 .用Avrami方程和莫志深改进法对DSC测定结果进行了处理 ,结果表明 ,PP g PU的动力学参数能很好的符合Avrami方程和莫志深改进方程 .PP接枝了聚氨酯支链后 ,结晶速率增大 ,球晶的生长和成核机制也相应发生改变 ,而其变化规律与接枝物的组成和结构密切相关     

Highly improved crystallization behavior of poly(L‐lactide) induced by a novel nucleating agent: substituted‐aryl phosphate salts

In this work, a novel nucleating agent (NA) based on substituted‐aryl phosphate salts was introduced into poly(L‐Lactide) (PLLA). The nonisothermal and isothermal crystallization behaviors of nucleated PLLA samples were investigated through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X‐ray diffraction, and polarized optical microscope (POM). Furthermore, the effect of annealing treatment on the cold crystallization behaviors of nucleated samples was also investigated. The results show that the crystallization of PLLA, whether for the melt crystallization (including nonisothermal and isothermal crystallization process) or for the cold crystallization (including the cold crystallization occurring during the DSC heating process and during the annealing process), is greatly dependent upon the content of NA. At relatively lower NA content (≤0.1 wt%), the nucleation effect of NA is inconspicuous, however, at higher NA content (≥0.2 wt%), it exhibits great nucleation effect for the crystallization of PLLA. Further results show that the double endothermic peak of PLLA depends on the temperature applied for the crystallization. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonisothermal crystallization behavior of the poly(ethylene glycol) block in poly(L‐lactide)–poly(ethylene glycol) diblock copolymers: Effect of the poly(L‐lactide) block length

The confined crystallization behavior, melting behavior, and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of the poly(ethylene glycol) block (PEG) in poly(L ‐lactide)–poly(ethylene glycol) (PLLA–PEG) diblock copolymers were investigated with wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The analysis showed that the nonisothermal crystallization behavior changed from fitting the Ozawa equation and the Avrami equation modified by Jeziorny to deviating from them with the molecular weight of the poly(L ‐lactide) (PLLA) block increasing. This resulted from the gradual strengthening of the confined effect, which was imposed by the crystallization of the PLLA block. The nucleation mechanism of the PEG block of PLLA15000–PEG5000 at a larger degree of supercooling was different from that of PLLA2500–PEG5000, PLLA5000–PEG5000, and PEG5000 (the numbers after PEG and PLLA denote the molecular weights of the PEG and PLLA blocks, respectively). They were homogeneous nucleation and heterogeneous nucleation, respectively. The PLLA block bonded chemically with the PEG block and increased the crystallization activation energy, but it provided nucleating sites for the crystallization of the PEG block, and the crystallization rate rose when it was heterogeneous nucleation. The number of melting peaks was three and one for the PEG homopolymer and the PEG block of the diblock copolymers, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3215–3226, 2006     

Melting behaviors,crystallization kinetics,and spherulitic morphologies of poly(butylene succinate) and its copolyester modified with rosin maleopimaric acid anhydride

This article investigated the melting behaviors, crystallization kinetics, and spherulitic morphologies of poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and its copolyester (PBSR) modified with rosin maleopimaric acid anhydride, using wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and polarized optical microscope. Subsequent DSC scans of isothermally crystallized PBS and PBSR exhibited two melting endotherms, respectively, which was due to the melt‐recrystallization process occurring during the DSC scans. The equilibrium melting point of PBSR (125.9 °C) was lower than that of PBS (139 °C). The commonly used Avrami equation was used to describe the isothermal crystallization kinetics. For nonisothermal crystallization studies, the model combining Avrami equation and Ozawa equation was employed. The result showed a consistent trend in the crystallization process. The crystallization rate was decreased, the perfection of crystals was decreased, the recrystallization was reduced, and the spherulitic morphologies were changed when the huge hydrogenated phenanthrene ring was added into the chain of PBS. The activation energy (ΔE) for the isothermal crystallization process determined by Arrhenius method was 255.9 kJ/mol for PBS and 345.7 kJ/mol for PBSR. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 900–913, 2006     

Effects of Branches on the Crystallization Kinetics of Polypropylene-g- Polystyrene and Polypropylene-g-Poly（n-butyl acrylate） Graft Copolymers with Well-defined Molecular Structures

Effects of branches on the crystallization kinetics of polypropylene-g-polystyrene(PP-g-PS) and polypropylene-gpoly(n-butyl acrylate)(PP-g-PnBA) graft copolymers with well-defined molecular structures were systematically investigated by DSC.The Avrami equation was used to analyze the isothermal crystallization process,while the analysis of nonisothermal crystallization process was based on the Jeziorny-modified Avrami model and Mo model.The kinetics results of isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization verified the peculiar effects of branches on the crystallization process of PP backbones in PP-g-PS and PP-g-PnBA graft copolymers:on one hand,the interaction between branches(π-π interaction between PS branches,or dipole-dipole interaction between PnBA branches) restrained the mobility and reptation ability of the PP backbones,which hindered the crystallization process;on the other hand,the heterogeneous nucleation effect resulting from the branched structure and fluctuation-assisted nucleation mechanism(caused by microphase separation between the PS or PnBA rich phase and the PP rich phase) became more pronounced with increasing branch length,which facilitated the crystallization process.     

乙烯含量对抗冲丙烯共聚物等温结晶行为的影响

利用DSC研究了乙烯含量不同的4种抗冲丙烯共聚物的等温结晶动力学.结果表明4种样品在考察的温度范围内(126~130℃)的等温结晶动力学完全符合Avrami方程,并得到了不同结晶温度下Avrami方程的结晶动力学参数k,n和t1/2,随着样品中乙烯含量的增加,Avrami指数(n)随温度变化不大,样品的结晶过程可能属于三维扩散控制的成核增长,4种样品的结晶活化能ΔE在279.5~343.1 kJ/mol范围内,且随乙烯含量增加,结晶活化能增大,充分说明样品中的乙烯含量是影响其结晶活化能的主要因素.结晶分级分析测试结果显示,随着乙烯含量的增加,聚丙烯均聚物部分链结构规整性提高,结构规整、可结晶的长序列含量在减少,可见乙烯含量的变化规律直接决定上述参数的变化规律.     

Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry study of the crystallization of poly(ethylene naphthalate), poly(butylene naphthalate), and their copolymers

The crystallization behavior of a series of poly(ethylene‐co‐butylene naphthalate) (PEBN) random copolymers was studied. Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) patterns showed that the crystallization of these copolymers could occur over the entire range of compositions. This resulted in the formation of poly(ethylene naphthalate) or poly(butylene naphthalate) crystals, depending on the composition of the copolymers. Sharp diffraction peaks were observed, except for 50/50 PEBN. Eutectic behavior was also observed. This showed isodimorphic cocrystallization of the PEBN copolymers. The variation of the enthalpy of fusion of the copolymers with the composition was estimated. The isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics were studied. The crystallization rates were found to decrease as the comonomer unit content increased. The tensile properties were also measured and were found to decrease as the butylene naphthalate content of the copolymers increased. For initially amorphous specimens, orientation was proved by WAXD patterns after drawing, but no crystalline reflections were observed. However, the fast crystallization of drawn specimens occurred when they were heated above the glass‐transition temperature. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 843–860, 2004     

Block copolymers of poly(ethylene terephthalate–polybutylene terephthalate). I. Preparation and crystallization behavior

Block copolymers of two crystallizable compounds, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), were developed with PET as the major component and the amount of PBT varying from 1.0 to 20.0 wt %. These block copolymers were prepared by end-group coupling of preformed oligomers. All polymers prepared were of equivalent molecular weight as determined by the intrinsic viscosity method. Thermal properties were determined by differential thermal analysis (DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). With increasing PBT content, the block copolymers showed a general decrease in the values of glass transition temperature, melting temperature, initial decomposition temperature, and maximum decomposition temperature. The heat of fusion and heat of crystallization first increased and then decreased slightly. Rates of crystallization were determined by measuring density as a function of time of isothermal crystallization carried out at 95°C. It was found that small amounts of PBT increased the crystallization rate considerably over that of PET. Random copolymers did not show this phenomenon and behaved more like pure PET. The crystallization behavior of block copolymers was analyzed by the Avrami equation and Avrami exponents were determined. Results were explained on the basis that the faster-crystallizing PBT blocks crystallized first and provided built-in nucleation sites for the subsequent crystallization of PET, thus resulting in a relatively fast-crystallizing copolyester.     

Nonisothermal cold‐crystallization kinetics of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)

The nonisothermal cold‐crystallization kinetics and subsequent melting behavior of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry. The Avrami, Tobin, and Ozawa equations were applied to describe the kinetics of the crystallization process. Both the Avrami and Tobin crystallization rate parameters increased with the heating rate. The Ozawa crystallization rate increased with the temperature. The ability of PTT to crystallize from the glassy state at a unit heating rate was determined with Ziabicki's kinetic crystallizability index, which was found to be about 0.89. The effective energy barrier describing the nonisothermal cold‐crystallization process of PTT was estimated by the differential isoconversional method of Friedman and was found to range between about 114.5 and 158.8 kJ mol^?1. In its subsequent melting, PTT exhibited double‐melting behavior for heating rates lower than or equal to 10 °C min^?1 and single‐melting behavior for heating rates greater than or equal to 12.5 °C min^?1. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4151–4163, 2004     

Thermal and structural investigation of random ethylene/1-hexene copolymers with high 1-hexene content

Random ethylene/1-hexene copolymers with the 1-hexene content in the range from 2 to 28 mol% were produced with a novel post-metallocene catalyst and analyzed by three techniques, FTIR, ¹³C NMR, and DSC. The 1-hexene content and the sequence distribution in the copolymers were determined by means of FTIR-M and ¹³C NMR. The crystallization behavior of the copolymers was studied by DSC under dynamic and isothermal conditions; the Avrami model was used to analyze the crystallization kinetics. It was found that both the 1-hexene content and the crystallization temperature affect the relative crystallinity. The bulk crystallization rate decreases with the 1-hexene content and reduces exponentially with an increase of T _c. The melting behavior of isothermally crystallized samples was also investigated and it was found that the melting temperatures of the copolymers under equilibrium conditions were related to the composition.     

Isothermal crystallization kinetics of PEO in poly(ethylene terephthalate)–poly(ethylene oxide) segmented copolymers. I. Effect of the soft‐block length

The isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) block in two poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)–PEO segmented copolymers was studied with differential scanning calorimetry. The Avrami equation failed to describe the overall crystallization process, but a modified Avrami equation, the Q equation, did. The crystallizability of the PET block and the different lengths of the PEO block exerted strong influences on the crystallization process, the crystallinity, and the final morphology of the PEO block. The mechanism of nucleation and the growth dimension of the PEO block were different because of the crystallizability of the PET block and the compositional heterogeneity. The crystallization of the PEO block was physically constrained by the microstructure of the PET crystalline phase, which resulted in a lower crystallization rate. However, this influence became weak with the increase in the soft‐block length. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 3230–3238, 2000     

Isothermal crystallization behavior of PP and PP-g-GMA copolymer at high undercooling

The study involves synthesis of polypropylene grafted with glycidyl methacrylate (PP-g-GMA) using three different initiators, benzoyl peroxide, dicumyl peroxide and tertiary butyl cumyl peroxide (TBSP). Among the peroxides used, dicumyl peroxide resulted in considerable reduction of molecular weight of the resulting graft copolymer. The melting/crystallization behavior and isothermal crystallization kinetics of PP homopolymer and PP-g-GMA copolymers were studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at high undercooling (44–60°C). The results showed that the degree of crystallinity and overall crystallization rate of copolymers is greater than that of virgin PP. Among the three initiators used, TBCP exhibited lowest half crystallization time. The isothermal crystallization kinetics of the PP and copolymers was described with the Avrami equation and Sestak-Berggren (SB) equation. The Avrami exponent n of the PP and copolymers were found to be in the range 1.03 to 1.41 at high undercooling conditions employed in this study. The agreement between the values of n calculated from SB kinetics and Avrami equation is satisfactory with few exceptions. The crystallization rate of PP-g-GMA copolymer was found to be more sensitive to temperature. The isothermally crystallized samples showed a single melting peak for PP while a double peak at lower temperature was recorded for PP-g-GMA copolymer samples. The equilibrium melting point was deduced according to Hoffman-Weeks theory. The decrease of recorded for the PP modified with GMA suggests that the thermodynamic stability of the PP crystals is influenced by the chemical interactions.     

Interpretation of the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of polypropylene using a power law nucleation rate function

A nucleation rate function is proposed for use in analyzing the overall crystallization kinetics of polymers. This function allows for the possibility that the nucleation rate varies substantially during the crystallization. This feature is particularly useful in analyzing nonisothermal crystallization, but it can be used to analyze isothermal crystallization as well. The nucleation rate function was used in the derivation of a modified transformation kinetics equation of the Avrami type. The modified Avrami equation was found to be suitable for kinetics analysis for the data obtained from nonisothermal crystallization at rapid cooling rates. Kinetics parameters used to describe nonisothermal crystallization under rapid cooling rates are presented and discussed. These include crystallization induction time, plateau (crystallization) temperature, crystallization half-time, crystallization rate constant, Avrami index, and newly defined quantities called nucleation index, geometric index, and nucleation rate constant. The procedure used to obtain the nucleation rate constant and nucleation index for the nucleation rate function is described and illustrated by application to the analysis of the crystallization kinetics of polypropylene. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 35: 1077–1093, 1997     

Nonisothermal crystallization behavior, and morphology of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/polyethylene glycol copolymers

Poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/polyethylene glycol (PTT/PEG) copolymers, with PEG content ranging from 27.2 to 47.4 wt%, were synthesized by melt copolycondensation. Wide-Angle X-ray diffractometer revealed that all copolymers had the same crystal structure of homo-PTT at room temperature. All copolymers could form ring-banded spherulites, and band spacing increased with increasing PEG content at a given crystallization temperature. Nonisothermal crystallization morphology of copolymers was greatly influenced by cooling rate. When the cooling rate was 2.5 °C/min or lower, banded patterns were absent, whereas when the cooling rate was 20 °C/min or higher, a novel crystal morphology composed of non-banded spherulites (central part) and ring-banded spherulites with decreasing band spacing along the radial growth direction was observed. Moreover, the size of the non-banded spherulitic part decreased with increasing cooling rate. Finally, the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of copolymers were analyzed and only the Mo method was satisfactory to accurately describe this system.     

Isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of nylon‐46

Isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of nylon‐46 were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry. The equilibrium melting enthalpy and the equilibrium melting temperature of nylon‐46 were determined to be 155.58 J/g and 307.10 °C, respectively. The isothermal crystallization process was described by the Avrami equation. The lateral surface free energy and the end surface free energy of nylon‐46 were calculated to be 8.28 and 138.54 erg/cm², respectively. The work of chain folding was determined to be 7.12 kcal/mol. The activation energies were determined to be 568.25 and 337.80 kJ/mol for isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization, respectively. A convenient method was applied to describe the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of nylon‐46 by a combination of the Avrami and Ozawa equations. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1784–1793, 2002     

Crystallization kinetics and melting behavior of metallocene short‐chain branched polyethylene fractions

Metallocene polyethylene (mPE) fractions are recognized as being more homogeneous with respect to short‐chain branch (SCB) distribution as compared with unfractionated mPEs. Differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy (POM) were used to study the influences of SCB content on the crystallization kinetics, melting behavior, and crystal morphology of four butyl‐branched mPE fractions. The parent mPE of the studied fractions was also investigated for comparative purposes. mPE fractions showed a much simpler crystallization behavior as compared with their parent mPE during the cooling experiments. The Ozawa equation was successfully used to analyze the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of the fractions. The Ozawa exponent n decreased from about 3.5 to 2 as the temperature declined for each fraction, indicating the crystal‐growth geometry changed from three‐dimensional to two‐dimensional. For isothermal crystallization, the fraction with a lesser SCB content exhibited a higher crystallization temperature (T_c) window. The results from the Avrami equation analysis showed the exponent n values were around 3 (with minor variation), which implied that the crystal‐growth geometry is pseudo‐three‐dimensional. Both of the activation energies for nonisothermal and isothermal crystallization were determined for each fraction with Kissinger and Arrhenius‐type equations, respectively. Double melting peaks were observed for both nonisothermally or isothermally crystallized specimens. The high‐melting peak was confirmed induced via the annealing effect during heating scans. The Hoffman–Weeks plot was inapplicable in obtaining the equilibrium melting temperature (T_m°) for each fraction. The relationship between T_c and T_m for the fractions is approximately T_m = T_c (°C) + 8.3. The POM results indicated that the crystals of parent or fractions formed under cooling conditions did not exhibit the typical spherulitic morphology as a result of the high SCB content. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 325–337, 2002