Nanoscale-confined crystallization in epoxy resin and polyethylene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer blends

In this paper, the nanoscale-confined crystallization behavior and crystallization kinetics in blends of double-crystalline polyethylene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PE-b-PEO) diblock copolymer with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A epoxy resin were investigated. The results showed that there appeared three crystallization regimes related to the crystallization of the PE block within three different microenvironments in the epoxy resin/PE-b-PEO blends. The Avrami index n is around 1.8–2.4, suggesting PE block of the copolymer in the blends exhibited nanoscale-confined crystallization behavior by homogeneous nucleation. The PE block nanoscale-confined crystallization is ascribed to the formation of the strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding interaction between hydroxyl groups of amine-cured epoxy and ether oxygen atoms of PEO, as seen from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra.