Kinetics of Nonisothermal and Isothermal Crystallization of Metallocene Polyethylene

The kinetics of nonisothermal and isothermal crystallization of metallocene catalyzed and conventional polyethylenes has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry. Using Avrami equation, Ozawa theory and Mo Zhishen method, the experimental data have been analyzed. It is shown that metallocene polyethylene possesses a higher rate of crystallization due to a higher stereoregularity of its molecular chains. Moreover, they have different nonisothermal crystallization mechanisms and identical isothermal crystallization mechanisms.

Isothermal and Non-Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Conductive Polyvinylidene Fluoride/Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Based Composites

This work deals with isothermal and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of electrically conductive polyvinylidene fluoride/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PVDF/PET) based composites. It completes our previous work in which we related the crystallinity of these conductive PVDF/PET based composites to their through-plane resistivity [1]. Isothermal crystallization was described using the logarithmic form of the Avrami equation and it was observed that the crystallization rate of the PVDF phase inside the composite became slower compared to that of neat PVDF. In non-isothermal crystallization, the Avrami exponent of PVDF phase did not show any noticeable variation;however, that of PET phase, which contains the major part of the conductive carbon black (CB) and graphite (GR) additives, showed an evident decrease compared with neat PET. It was also observed that, at the same cooling rate, the crystallization rate of PVDF and PET phases inside the composite was slower than that of neat PVDF and PET.

INFLUENCE OF SAMPLE THICKNESS ON ISOTHERMAL CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF POLYMERS IN A CONFINED VOLUME

Isothermal crystallization process of polymers in a confined volume was simulated in the case of instantaneous nucleation by use of the Monte Carlo method.The influence of sample thickness on some kinetic parameters of crystallization was quantitatively evaluated.It was found that there was a critical thickness value.Influence of thickness on the crystallization behavior was only found for samples of thickness near and less than the critical value.For thick samples the Avrami plot showed straight lines with a turning point at the late stage of crystallization due to the secondary crystallization.When the thickness was near or less than the critical value a primary turning point appeared in the Avrami plot at the very beginning of the crystallization process.A model was proposed to explain the mechanism of this phenomenon.According to this model the critical thickness value is related to the nucleation density or the average distance between adjacent nuclei,and the primary turning point is an indication of a transformation of crystal growth geometry from a three-dimensional mode to a two-dimensional one.Analysis of experimental results of PEO isothermally crystallized at 53.5℃ was consistent with the proposed model.

Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Nylon 10T and Nylon 10T/1010 Copolymers:Effect of Sebacic Acid as a Third Comonomer

Nylon 10T and nylon 10T/1010 samples were synthesized by direct melt polymerization.The isothermal crystallization kinetics of nylon 10T and nylon 10T/1010 was investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry（DSC）.The crystallization kinetics under isothermal condition has been analyzed by the Avrami equation.It was found that the Avrami equation was well-suited to describe the isothermal crystallization kinetics,combined with the results of the Turnbull-Fisher equation.The values of Tm^0 and Kg were obtained by Hoffman-Weeks and Lauritzen-Hoffman equations,respectively.The activation energies for isothermal crystallization of nylon 10T and nylon 10T/1010 were determined using the Arrhenius equation and found to be-123.24 and-81.86 kJ·mol^（-1）,respectively,which reveals that the crystallization ability of nylon 10T/1010was lower than that of nylon 10T during the isothermal crystallization process.The crystal morphology was observed by means of polarized optical microscopy（POM）and X-ray diffraction（XRD）.It was found that the addition of sebacic acid comonomer did not change the crystal form of nylon 10T,but significantly increased the number and decreased the size of spherulites.

Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics and Melting Behavior of POE-g-MAH Compatibilized PA11/POE Blends

A new Nylon 11（PA11）/polyethylene-octene（POE） blends compatibilized by maleic anhydride grafted mixture polyethyleneocten（POE-g-MAH） was prepared through melt blending method.The isothermal crystallization kinetics and melting behaviors of PA11/POE blends were investigated in detail by differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） and polarized optical microscope.The n values of PA11 blending with POE or POE-g-MAH are almost similar with pure PA11,which indicates that the effect of POE and POE-g-MAH on nucleation and growth of PA11 crystal is slight.The overall crystallization rate of PA11/POE blends are higher than ones of pure PA11 at the same crystallization temperatures,but they decrease significantly when POE-g-MAH is added into PA11/POE blends.DSC heating curves of both PA11 and its blends exhibit two melting peaks,but the two melting peak become weaker when POE-g-MAH is add into PA11/POE blend systems.And the spherulite size is reduced significantly by the addition of POE-g-MAH compared with pure PA11 and PA11/POE blends.

CHARACTERIZATION OF γ-IRRADIATED CRYSTALLINE POLYMERS Ⅱ ISOTHERMAL CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF γ-RADIATION INDUCED CROSSLINKED POLYAMIDE 1010

Polyamide 1010 is a γ-radiation crosslinkable polymer. After irradiation, it is possible to raise its service temperature up to 240℃ . Network formation greatly changes the crystallization behaviour of the polymer. In the present work, DSC was used to examine its isothermal crystallization kinetics. It is found that in addition to the necessity of more undercooling and the lowering of crystallization rate, the primary crystallization stage of the irradiated polymer is shortened. This effect is more evident with increasing radiation dose and content of enhanced difunctionai erosslinking agent. However, the crystallization mechanism of the primary stage is not changed as evidenced by the constancy of Avrami exponent. The lamella end surface free energy σ_e calculated according to Hoffman's equation is very sensitive to γ-radiation. It increases abruptly in 2—3 fold even though the radiation dose is not high enough. The origin of this phenomenon may be accounted for in terms of network structure of the polymer.

ON A DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION FOR KINETICS OF NON- ISOTHERMAL CRYSTALLIZATION

A new differential equation was derived from the modified first-order kinetic model to describe the polymer crystallization processes. The crystallization experiments were carried out by means of DSC. Poly (ethylene terephthalate) resins were selected as the samples containing different catalysts. The relationships between the parameters obtained from the known Avrami equation and from one in the present paper were discussed. A method for applying the equation to determine the kinetic parameters from a constant heating and a constant cooling curve was proposed.

THE STRUCTURE OF AGGREGATION STATE AND ISOTHERMAL CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF NYLON-1010

The structure of aggregation state and isothermal crystallization behavior of Nylon-1010 have been studied by WAXD, DSE, Variance-Range Function and density measurement. The results show that crystallization of Nylon-1010 has the most suitable annealing temperature, the crystals of the Nxlon-1010 are two-dimension heterogeneous nucleation. Both low treatment temperature and high crystallization te, temperature are disadvantageous for Nylon-1010 crystal growth.

Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics and Crystalline Morphologies of Poly(butylene adipate-co-butylene 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate)Copolymers

In this study, the isothermal crystallization kinetics and crystalline morphology of poly（butylene adipate-co-butylene 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate）（PBAC）, which refers to a copolyester containing a non-planar ring structure, were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy, and compared with those of neat poly（butylene 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate）（PBC）. The results indicate that the introduction of butylene adipate（BA） unit into PBAC did not change the intrinsical crystallization mechanism. But, the crystallization rate and ability, and equilibrium melting temperature of PBAC copolymers were reduced. All PBC and PBAC copolymers could only form high density of nucleation from melt at given supercooling, while no Maltese cross or ring-banded spherulites could be observed. PBAC copolymers with a high amount of BA unit became amorphous after quenching with liquid nitrogen from melt, while PBC and PBAC copolymers with a low amount of BA unit could still form a large amount of nuclei under the same treatment.

The Effect of Self-nucleation on Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Poly(butylene succinate)(PBS) Investigated by Differential Fast Scanning Calorimetry

Differential fast scanning calorimetry（DFSC） was employed on the study of self-nucleation behavior of poly（butylene succinate）（PBS）.The ultra-fast cooling ability of DFSC allows investigating the effect of self-nucleation on the isothermal crystallization kinetics over a wide temperature range.Crystallization half-time,instead of crystallization peak temperature,was used to describe the self-nucleation behavior,and the self-nucleation domain for the samples crystallized at different temperatures was determined.Due to the competition between homogenous nucleation and self-nuclei,the effect of self-nucleation was less pronounced at high supercooling than that for the sample isothermally crystallized at higher temperature.An efficiency scale to judge the efficiency of nucleating agents from the crystallization half-time was also introduced in this work.

Studies on Kinetics of Crystallization of PA6/UFAPR Composites

The influence of Ultrafine Full-Vulcanized Acrylate Powdered Rubber(UFAPR) on the isothermal crystallization kinetics and nonisothermal crystallization behavior of PA6 has been studied by means of DSC. The results show that with the introduction of a small amount of UFAPR, the crystallization rate of PA6 can be increased obviously, and the crystallization temperature range can be augmented and the crystallite size distribution of the crystal can be narrowed down. The change of free energy perpendicular to the crystal nucleus, which has been calculated according to the Hoffman theory, is consistent with the result of Avrami′s equation. The unit surface free energy of the radial-developing crystal spherulite decreases while the crystallization rate of PA6 increases with the introduction of UFAPR. Meanwhile, it is shown by means of the polarizing microscope(PLM) that the crystal size drops down and the number of the crystal grains augments with the addition of UFAPR, which shows that UFAPR can function as a nucleating agent.

Study on crystallization behavior of Tibet butter

Tibetan butter(TB),generally called butter,is a solid oil product extracted from yak milk in the QinghaiTibet plateau area.However,due to the limitations of raw material sources and production technology,there is a shortage of TB,so it is important to find substitutes of TB.This paper studied the crystallization behavior of six kinds of commercial TB products in Tibet to provide the theoretical basis for the development of TB substitutes for the production of TB lamps and flowers.This study assessed the crystallization behaviors of the TB samples,including isothermal crystallization process and non-isothermal crystallization process.The microstructure,isothermal crystallization of TB were evaluated by polarized light microscopy and low-pulse NMR spectrometry,respectively.The non-isothermal crystallization process of TB under temperature scanning were investigated using Rheometer,and the crystallization behavior under different cooling rates were determined by diferential scanning calorimetry(DSC)procedures.The results showed that the TB was crystallized at a higher supercooling(-10,0 and 10℃).Dimensional growth is dominant;at 20℃,spiral growth dominates.The TB has complex crystallization nucleation behavior.The crystal types of TB are mainlyβ’-crystal form andβ’-like crystal form.The lower the cooling rate,the shorter the crystallization induction time,and the more the number of crystal nuclei.Therefore,during producing TB substitutes in the factory,the cooling rate can be controlled at10℃/min to reduce energy consumption and production costs.

Thermal degradation and isothermal crystalline behavior of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)

Poly（trimethylene terephthalate） （PTT） is an excellent fiber material. Its thermal degradation and isothermal crystalline behaviors were in this study investigated using thermogravimetric analysis （TGA）, thermogravimetric analysis-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （TGA-FTIR） analysis, differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. The thermal degradation mechanism of PTT follows Mclafferty rearrangement principle. The PTTwithintrinsicviscosity（IV） of 0.74 dL/g has a maximum crystallinity of about 55% at 190 ℃, as demonstrated by DSC and XRD measurements consistently.

Crystallization behaviour and high coercivity of (Nd,Pr)_(13)Fe_(80)Nb_1B_6 melt-spun ribbons

Amorphous （Nd,Pr）13Fe80Nb1B6 ribbons were crystallized at 670-730°C for 5-25 min to study the effects of isothermal crystallization on their behavior and magnetic properties. XRD results indicate that the isothermal incubation time is 12, 5, and less than 5 min at 670, 700, and 730°C, respectively. High coercivities, with the maximum value of iHc = 1616 kA/m at 700°C for 19 min, measured by a physical property measurement system, are obtained in the crystallized ribbons. This is mainly attributed to the addition of Pr and Nb, because Pr2Fe14B has a higher anisotropic field than Nd2Fe14B, and Nb enriched in the grain boundary regions can not only reduce the exchange-coupling effects among hard grains, but also impede grain growth during the crystallization process. In addition, it should also be related to the characteristics of the furnace that the authors designed.

CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIOR OF PURE AND ADDITIVE-CONTAINING POLY (ETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE)

The isothermal crystallization of poly (ethylene terephthalate ) (PET),which is free of catalyst, stabilizer, oligomer and diethylene glycol (DEG), was studied by DSC. The crystallization behaviour of pure PET is different from commercial PET and a reasonable explanation is presented. The influences of catalyst, stabilizer, oligomer and DEG on the crystallization of pure PET were examined. It is shown that catalyst (Manganese acetate)and stabilizer (Triphenyl phosphite) result in an increase of the crystallization rate of PET; on the contrary, DEG and oligomer (cyclotetramer) result in a reduction of the crystallization rate. When catalyst and stabilizer coexist together, both of them promote the crystallization at lower temperature ,only a smaller effect was found at higher temperature, it is evident that metal phosphite is formed between the catalyst and stabilizer at higher temperature.

Effects of Branches on the Crystallization Kinetics of Polypropylene-gPolystyrene 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-g- poly（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 （n-n 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.

Experimental and Data Fitting Guidelines for the Determination of Polymer Crystallization Kinetics

The crystallization kinetics of semicrystalline polymers is often studied with isothermal experiments and analyzed by fitting the data with analytical expressions of the Avrami and Lauritzen and Hoffman(LH)theories.To correctly carry out the analysis,precautions in both experiments and data fitting should be taken.Here,we systematically discussed the factors that influence the validity of the crystallization kinetics study.The basic concepts and fundamentals of the Avrami and LH theories were introduced at first.Then,experimental protocols were discussed in detail.To clarify the impact of various experimental parameters,selected common polymers,i.e.,polypropylene and polylactide,were studied using various experimental techniques(i.e.,differential scanning calorimetry and polarized light optical microscopy).Common mistakes were simulated under conditions when non-ideal experimental parameters were applied.Furthermore,from a practical point of view,we show how to fit the experimental data to the Avrami and the LH theories,using an Origin■App developed by us.

Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Methyl 3,5-Disulfo-benzoate Dipotassium Dihydrate as Nucleating Agent for Poly（L-lactide）

A newly synthesized aromatic sulfonate compound,complex 2 with formula of K2[H3COOC-C6H3（SO3）2]·2H2O（methyl 3,5-disulfo-benzoate dipotassium dihydrate） was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis,infrared（IR） spectrometry,nuclear magnetic resonance（NMR） and crystal structure measurement.Single-crystal X-ray diffraction（XRD） revealed that complex 2 crystallized in the triclinic system with space group P（i）.Complex 2 was used as nucleating agent for poly（L-lactide）（PLLA）.The crystallization of PLLA with powder of complex 2 was investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） and polarized optical microscopy （POM）.The results prove that complex 2 was effective as nucleating agent for PLLA.It could accelerate crystallization by reducing the induction time and increasing the density of nuclei in the crystallization process.The half-time of crystallization（t0.5） for pure PLLA was about 8 times longer than that of PLLA sample with 1.0％（mass fraction） of complex 2.