Abstract

The thermal transitions of a poly(ethylene terephthalate)/carbon dioxide (PET/CO 2) system were investigated by using a differential scanning calorimeter accessorized with a high-pressure DSC cell. It was found that the glass transition temperature of PET decreases with an increase in the CO 2 pressure due to the plasticization effect, which is quite noticeable even at rather low CO 2 pressures. The sorbed CO 2 enhances the mobility of the chain segments and depresses the crystallization temperature of the PET. The CO 2-induced crystallization of PET at high pressure is attributed mainly to the plasticization effect, which causes a lower T g than room temperature for PET, and hence crystallization of PET can occur at room temperature. The sorbed CO 2 was also found to be able to induce the crystallization of PET at temperatures lower than the glass transition temperature of PET. The results of high-pressure DSC were supported by measurements of wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD).

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