聚丙烯结晶行为的PVT研究

通过受限液体PVT测量技术对等规聚丙烯的结晶行为进行了研究,采用PVT等压测量模式描述了不同压力场下半结晶聚合物的结晶过程.结果表明,随着压力的升高,等规聚丙烯分子链间的相互作用增强,使得等规聚丙烯分子链段更容易排入晶格中,这是结晶温度和结晶速度升高的主要因素.通过对数据拟合,建立了压力对等规聚丙烯结晶过程参数的影响公式.对Jeziorny结晶动力学模型进行改进,并研究了压力对等规聚丙烯结晶动力学的影响,结果发现,当结晶度大于0.08时,结晶动力学拟合曲线呈较好的线性,分析结果可以对结晶过程的变化机理进行合理地预测,在小于200 MPa压力环境下,等规聚丙烯的结晶生长方式仍是球晶生长模式,晶体的生长符合二维片晶生长方式,自由体积的减小是结晶速率加快的主要原因之一.     

取向对物理老化的聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯纤维溶剂诱导结晶速率的影响

通过密度法、ＤＳＣ、力学性能测试等方法研究了物理老化对聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（ＰＥＴ）纤维溶剂诱导结晶速率及结构的影响，并进一步探讨了取向程度对ＰＥＴ纤维物理老化过程的影响．发现在一定老化温度下，ＰＥＴ纤维的溶剂诱导结晶（ＳＩＮＣ）速率随老化时间的延长呈现先降低后升高的趋势；取向程度高的样品则经较短的老化时间即可出现这种情况．对上述现象用凝聚缠结的观点加以解释．     

Characterization of polyethylene crystallization from an oriented melt by molecular dynamics simulation

Molecular dynamics is used to characterize the process of crystallization for a united atom model of polyethylene. An oriented melt is produced by uniaxial deformation under constant load, followed by quenching below the melting temperature at zero load. The development of crystallinity is monitored simultaneously using molecular-based order parameters for density, energy, and orientation. For crystallization temperatures ranging from 325 to 375 K, these simulations clearly show the hallmarks of crystal nucleation and growth. We can identify multiple nucleation events, lamellar growth up to the limit imposed by periodic boundaries of the simulation cell, and lamellar thickening. We observe a competition between the rate of nucleation, which results in multiple crystallites, the rate of chain extension, which results in thicker lamellae, and the rate of chain conformational relaxation, which is manifested in lower degrees of residual order in the noncrystalline portion of the simulation. The temperature dependence of lamellar thickness is in accord with experimental data. At the higher temperatures, tilted chain lamellae are observed to form with lamellar interfaces corresponding approximately to the [201] facet, indicative of the influence of interfacial energy.     

Crystallization of isotactic polystyrene from dilute solutions

The overall rate of crystallization of isotactic polystyrene from dilute solutions, 1% by weight, in trans-decalin and benzyl alcohol was studied as a function of temperature using dilatometry. These solvents were chosen because the dissolution temperatures of crystalline isotactic polystyrene are practically the same in both solvents. The overall rate of crystallization as a function of crystallization temperature showed a maximum in both solvents at about 50°C. At lower crystallization temperatures the rate of crystallization is much lower. The overall rate of crystallization of isotactic polystyrene in benzyl alcohol is far larger than in trans-decalin at the same undercooling throughout the temperature range, which is in apparent contradiction to present crystallization theories. At very large undercooling (T_c lower than about 0°C) the solutions of isotactic polystyrene in both solvents quickly become “rigid” gels. Surface replicas of freeze-etched gels indicate that a fringed micelle type of crystallization takes place at these low temperatures. The transition from folded chain crystallization to fringed micelle crystallization may be due to a stiffening of the polymer chain below about 50°C, with a reduced rotational mobility of the phenyl groups on the chain. If very dilute solutions, below 0.5% by weight, are crystallized at these low temperatures no gels were formed but fibrous crystals are produced which could be observed under the polarizing microscope.     

Cold crystallization and postmelting crystallization of PLA plasticized by compressed carbon dioxide

The cold crystallization at temperature T_cc (melting > T_cc > glass transition) and the postmelting crystallization of polylactic acid plasticized by compressed carbon dioxide (CO₂) were studied using a high-pressure differential scanning calorimeter. The kinetics of the two kinds of crystallization were evaluated by the Avrami equation as a function of pressure at certain temperatures. The effects of using talc as a nucleation agent on the two types of crystallization under pressure were also investigated. The results show that compressed CO₂ increased the mobility of the polymer chains in solid state, resulting in an increased rate of cold crystallization. The decreased rate of postmelting crystallization was mainly in the nucleation-controlled region, which indicates that the number of nuclei was decreased by the compressed CO₂. The growth rate of the two crystallization types followed the Avrami equation, but the kinetics of each depended upon temperature and pressure. The inclusion of talc accelerated postmelting crystallization but had little effect on cold crystallization. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2630–2636, 2008     

固液相变的分子动力学研究Ⅰ─—(KI)_(108)离子簇的熔化和凝固(英)

通过分子动力学模拟，考查并分析了（KI）108离子簇的结构、能量和相变的动力学行为．在加热和冷却过程中，离子簇再现了熔化和凝固现象，而且熔化起始于立方体的其一顶点，熔化的离子簇不是球形的，说明了离子簇的非湿特征．根据结晶的成核速率，讨论了电子衍射实验中观察KI凝固的可能性     

溶剂诱导聚合物结晶的研究进展

溶剂诱导结晶(SINC)又称为液体诱导结晶,它是结晶性高聚物在溶剂(或包括其蒸汽)作用下,在低于通常Tg下诱导结晶,而在高于通常Tg时能加速结晶的现象。本文主要对溶剂诱导结晶的机理、动力学和形态学进行了讨论。     

Crystallization and melting of polyethylene under high pressure. I. Crystallization by slow cooling from the melt

Crystallization and melting behavior of linear polyethylene under high pressures up to 6000 kg/cm² has been investigated with a high-pressure dilatometer. Crystallization was carried out at a cooling rate of 1°C/min from the melt at each pressure. The samples were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, density, and electron microscopy. Folded-chain crystals are formed in the low-pressure region below 2000 kg/cm². Crystallization in the intermediate-pressure region between 2000 and 3500 kg/cm² gives a mixture of folded-chain and extended-chain crystals. The extendedchain crystals are the more stable and predominate at increasing pressure. At high pressures above 4700 kg/cm², two stages of crystallization and of melting can be observed. The phenomenon suggests that the two kinds of extended-chain crystals with different thermal stability, i.e., the ordinary extended-chain crystals and “highly extended-chain” crystals form through individual crystallization processes from the melt at high pressure.     

Crystallization of polymers in variable external conditions IV. Isothermal crystallization in the presence of variable tensile stress or hydrostatic pressure

General equations of crystallization in variable conditions have been applied to isothermal crystallization affected by variable tensile stress or hydrostatic pressure. In a system under stress, the crystallization rate involves relaxational and athermal effects, and is controlled by the normal stress difference and the stress rate. Similarily, pressure effects include the hydrostatic pressure and its rate of change. Received: 1 December 1998 Accepted in revised form: 23 March 1999     

A Molecular Dynamics Study of Nickel Crystallization at Strong Supercoolings

The homogeneous crystallization of liquid nickel models containing 2048 particles in the basic cube was studied by molecular dynamics. The potential of the embedded atom method was used. The models were constructed under zero pressure or constant volume conditions. The state of the structure was evaluated from the number of atoms with the coordination number 12. The concentration of such atoms in the stable and metastable liquids increased as the temperature decreased. At the selected potential of the embedded atom model, the equilibrium crystallization temperature at zero pressure was 1415 K. The existence of the lower boundary of liquid nickel supercooling was established. The liquid crystallized under isothermal conditions by the cluster mechanism with the formation of a predominantly closely packed structure below 850 K at zero pressure and below 1075 K at a constant volume (6.588 cm³/mol). The mechanism of nucleation was different from that accepted in classic nucleation theory. Nucleation was accompanied by an increase in the number of atoms with the coordination number 12, the formation of bound groups (12-clusters) from these atoms, and the growth of these groups, as with the crystallization of rubidium under strong supercooling conditions and coagulation of impurities from supersaturated solutions. At the initial stage, bound groups had a very loose structure and contained a large number of atoms with coordination numbers other than 12; the linear size of the largest group rapidly approximated the basic cube size. These atoms played a leading role in crystallization and activated the transfer of atoms in bound groups having different coordination numbers into the coordination state corresponding to a closely packed lattice. An important role in the formation of 12-clusters of the threshold (critical) size played cluster size fluctuations, which were especially strong close to the lower boundary of liquid supercooling.     

A new PvT device for high performance thermoplastics: Heat transfer analysis and crystallization kinetics identification

The quality of thermoplastic parts strongly depends on their thermal history during processing. Heat transfer modelling requires accurate knowledge of thermophysical properties and crystallization kinetics in conditions representative of the forming process. In this work, we present a new PvT apparatus and associated method to identify the crystallization kinetics under pressure. The PvT-xT mould was designed for high performance thermoplastics: high temperature (up to 400 °C), high cooling rate (up to 200 K/min) and very high pressure (up to 200 MPa). Specific volume measurements were performed at a low cooling rate to avoid a thermal gradient. The crystallization kinetics under pressure can be identified for a wide range of cooling rates by an inverse method taking into account the thermal and crystallinity gradients. Since identification is based on volume variations, the proposed methodology is non-intrusive. Furthermore, the enthalpy released by the crystallization was measured during the experiment by a heat flux sensor located in the moulding cavity.     

Study of dynamics and crystallization kinetics of 5-methyl-2-[(2-nitrophenyl)amino]-3-thiophenecarbonitrile at ambient and elevated pressure

The organic liquid ROY, i.e., 5-methyl-2-[(2-nitrophenyl)amino]-3-thiophenecarbonitrile, has been a subject of detailed study in the last few years. One interest in ROY lies in its polymorph-dependent fast crystal growth mode below and above the glass transition temperature. This growth mode is not diffusion controlled, and the possibility that it is enabled by secondary relaxation had been suggested. However, a previous study by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy had not been able to find any resolved secondary relaxation. The present paper reports new dielectric measurements of ROY in the liquid and glassy states at ambient pressure and elevated pressure, which were performed to provide more insight into the molecular dynamics as well as the crystallization tendency of ROY. In the search of secondary relaxation, a special glassy state of ROY was prepared by applying high pressure to the liquid state, from which secondary relaxation was possibly resolved. Thus, the role of secondary relaxation in crystallization of ROY remains to be clarified. Notwithstanding, the secondary relaxation present is not necessarily the sole enabler of crystallization. In an effort to search for possible cause of crystallization other than secondary relaxation, we also performed crystallization kinetics studies of ROY at different T and P combinations while keeping the structural relaxation time constant. The results show that crystallization of ROY speeds up with pressure, opposite to the trend found in the crystallization of ibuprofen studied up to 1 GPa. The dielectric relaxation and thermodynamic properties of ROY with phenolphthalein dimethylether (PDE) are similar in many respects, but PDE does not crystallize. Taking all the above into account, besides the secondary relaxation, the specific chemical structure, molecular interactions and packing of the molecules are additional factors that could affect the kinetics of crystallization found in ROY.     

Crystallization of polymers in variable external conditions

A new model of crystallization kinetics in variable external conditions has been developed. The model concerns situations when temperature, pressure, stress, change in time. Compared to earlier models, the present treatment includes transient and athermal effects, proportional to the rate of change of the external conditions. The model can be used for simulation of crystallization in industrial processes (injection molding, fiber spinning, film blowing). The present paper offers general theoretical fundamentals of the model. Applications concerning more specific cases will be published separately.     

CO2‐delayed crystallization of isotactic polypropylene: A kinetic study

The effect of CO₂ on the nonisothermal crystallization of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) was studied with high‐pressure differential scanning calorimetry at cooling rates of 0.2–5 °C/min. CO₂ significantly delayed the melt crystallization of iPP, and both the crystallization temperature and the heat of crystallization decreased with increasing CO₂ pressure. The crystallization rate of iPP, as characterized by the half‐time, was also prolonged by the presence of CO₂. With a modified Ozawa model developed by Seo, the Avrami crystallization exponent n of iPP was calculated. This value was depressed by the addition of CO₂ and was strongly dependent on the CO₂ pressure at low cooling rates. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1518–1525, 2003     

Crystallization at the glass transition in supercooled thin films of methanol

The stability of an amorphous material depends on how fast and by what mechanism crystallization occurs. Based on crystallization rate measurements through optical reflectivity changes in supercooled methanol thin films, it is observed for the first time that there is a definitive and detectable change of the crystallization mechanism at the glass transition temperature T(g). For methanol glasses below T(g)=103.4 K, crystallization occurs as an interface controlled, one-dimension process at frozen-in embryo sites, while in the deep supercooled liquid phase above T(g) crystallization is diffusion controlled in two dimensions with a constant nucleation rate and an activation energy of 107.8(+/-4.7) kJ/mol.     

Probing Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of a Polyethylene Blend with Thermal Analysis

Summary: A series of polyethylene (PE) blends consisting of a high density polyethylene (HDPE) and a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) with a butene-chain branch density of 77/1000 carbon was prepared at different concentrations. The LLDPE only crystallized below 50 °C, therefore, above 80 °C and below the melting temperature of HDPE, only HDPE crystallized in the PE blends. A specifically designed multi-step experimental procedure based on thermal analysis technique was utilized to monitor the liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of this set of PE blends. The main step was first to quench the system from the homogeneous temperatures and isothermally anneal them at a prescribed temperature higher than the equilibrium melting temperature of the HDPE for the purpose of allowing the phase morphology to develop from LLPS, and then cool the system at constant rate to record the non-isothermal crystallization. The crystallization peak temperature (T_p) was used to character the crystallization rate. Because LLPS results in HDPE-rich domains where the crystallization rates are increased, this technique provided an experimental measure to identify the binodal curve of the LLPS for the system indicated by increased T_p. The result showed that the LLPS boundary of the blend measured by this method was close to that obtained by phase contrast optical microscopy method. Therefore, we considered that the thermal analysis technique based on the non-isothermal crystallization could be effective to investigate the LLPS of PE blends.     

Thermal behavior of isotactic polypropylene freeze-extracted from solutions with varying concentrations

Isotactic polypropylene (iPP) with narrow molecular mass distribution was freeze-extracted from n-octane solutions with varying concentrations. The recovered samples were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry. It is found that the sample recovered from the very dilute solution exhibits the higher non-isothermal crystallization temperature, faster isothermal crystallization rate, and smaller Avrami index. And there should exist a critical concentration corresponding with the critical overlap concentration proposed by de Gennes in the polymer solutions. In the solution well below the critical concentration, the iPP chains were isolated from each other, resulting in an acceleration of melt crystallization for the recovered samples. It seems that the chain entanglement is a barrier to the melt crystallization of polymer.     

热处理对尼龙1010固态结晶和玻璃态热松驰的影响

本文用DSC首先论证淬火尼龙1010试样在DSC曲线上出现的放热峰是冷结晶峰,然后研究淬火尼龙1010在不同热处理条件下,冷结晶峰和玻璃态热松驰峰的变化规律。实验结果表明,等温结晶时间较短,试样的固态结晶速率较快;等温结晶时间较长,固态结晶速率较慢,这可能与在Tg区域等温所形成的新氢键有关。当升高等温温度时,固态结晶速率加快。在低于Tg的不同温度退火,玻璃态热松弛峰的峰高及热焓在281K达最大值,进而确定对玻璃态热松驰影响最敏感的温度区间是277～284K。     

Kinetics of polymer crystallization from the melt (calorimetric approach)

Crystallization kinetics for 12 polymers including polyolefins, polyesters, polyurethanes, polysiloxanes was measured by the evolution of heat in a modified Calvet-type calorimeter over wide temperature ranges. The results are analyzed in terms of the Avrami equation and a comparison between calorimetric and dilatometric results is carried out. It is concluded that, although in the majority of cases experimental results do not obey the Avrami equation, for some polymers the agreement is rather good. The Avrami parameter obtained, however, depends on the experimental technique. Possible reasons for this disagreement are discussed. Analysis of the calorimetric crystallization rate in the vicinity of the melting point by using the kinetic theory of crystallization shows that the growth is controlled by surface (two-dimentional) nucleation. Energy parameters for the crystallites were determined and it is shown that the surface energy of the crystallites depends on the molecular structure of the polymer. Temperature dependence of the calorimetric crystallization rate of the polymers for which crystallization rates could be determined above and below the maximum rate are analyzed using a kinetic equation with common approximations for the transport term. The influence of melting conditions on the crystallization rate was studied. The results indicate heterogeneous nucleation in the polymer melt. It is concluded that this may be due both to impurities and to high regularity of macromolecules in the polymer melt.     

Effects of pressure on the compressibility and crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

The effects of pressure on the compressibility and crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) have been investigated. The Instron capillary rheometer was adapted as a high-pressure dilatometer to perform experiments up to 40,000 psi. Compressibilities of solid and molten PET were measured. The increases in compressibility with increase in temperature for the solid state are discussed in terms of free-volume theory. Results obtained for the melt are explained by invoking the second law of thermodynamics and the effect of pressure on the Gibbs free energy. The effects of temperature and compression rate on the pressure of crystallization (P_c) were also studied. As the crystallization temperature was increased from 240 to 286°C, P_c increased by about 16,000 psi. As the compression rate was raised from 1%/min to 8%/min, P_c increased 10,000 psi. At some undetermined compression rate above 8%/min it seemed impossible to induce crystallization in the melt, even with pressures up to 40,000 psi. Analysis of data on the kinetics of crystallization of PET melt under high pressures revealed low Avrami exponents, for which no unequivocal explanation is offered. It is possible, however, that crystallization at high pressure promotes the formation of a morphology made up of a certain percentage of “extended chains.” The alteration in the attendant spatial geometry involved in the crystallization might explain the lower Avrami exponents found. In another set of experiments, crystallization temperatures (T_c) were measured by slowly cooling PET melt under high pressures. As the pressure was raised from 3000 to 15,000 psi, T_c increased from about 246 to 282.5°C. These results are consistent with thermodynamic theory.