Isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/multiwall carbon nanotubes composites

Abstract

The isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) in the presence of varying amounts of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) have been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and analyzed using Avrami and secondary nucleation theory. Polarized light microscopy (PLM) was used to study the crystal morphology of PTT/MWCNT composites. The results showed that the presence of MWCNTs in PTT acted as an effective nucleating agents and lead to the spherulitic morphology. The decrease in the spherulites size on MWCNT addition was observed by polarized light microscopy. Using values of transport parameters ( $$ U* = 1500{\text{ cal mol}}^{ - 1} , \, \Updelta T =T_{\text{g}} - 30\, $$ °C) together with experimentally determined values of equilibrium melting temperature [ $$ T^{\text{o}}_{\text{m}} $$ (245.2 °C)] and glass transition temperature [ $$ T_{\text{g}} $$ (45 °C)], the nucleation parameter, $$ K_{\text{g}} $$ and $$ \sigma_{\text{e}} $$ were determined for PTT and PTT/MWCNT composites according to Lauritzen–Hoffman theory. The decrease in the values of these parameters on MWCNT addition is in agreement with the fact that the rate of crystallization of PTT increased in the presence of MWCNTs.