Isothermal crystallization kinetics of commercially important polyalkylene terephthalates

Abstract

The isothermal crystallization kinetics of virgin, melt-mixed, and nucleated specimens of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene terephthalate (PPT), and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) were measured. The purpose of the study was to determine the difference in crystallization rate of PPT, which is to be commercially available in the near future, to the extensively studied, commercially important polyalkylene terephthalates PET and PBT. At equivalent supercooling, the crystallization rate of PPT was between that of PET and PBT, with PBT being the fastest crystallizing polymer. Melt-mixing virgin materials resulted in a substantial increase in the crystallization rate for all three polyalkylene terephthalates. The addition of talc or sodium stearate as a nucleating agent resulted in a further increase in crystallization rate for all three polyesters. Although the addition of talc or sodium stearate to PPT and PET greatly enhanced crystallization rate, these nucleating agent–containing materials still did not crystallize as fast as PBT melt-mixed in the absence of any intentionally added nucleating agents. Analysis of the crystallization kinetic data using the Avrami equation showed that melt-mixing and the addition of sodium stearate resulted in an increase in the average Avrami exponent. This result suggested a change in the mechanism of nucleation toward more sporadic nucleation. For the sodium stearate–nucleated materials, the Avrami exponent was found to increase with increasing crystallization temperature, but a precise explanation of this behavior could not be provided without a knowledge of crystallite morphology. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 76: 1296–1307, 2000