Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(ether sulfone) functionalized graphene reinforced poly(ether ether ketone) composites

Abstract

The impact of poly (ether sulfone) modified graphene (f-GEi) on the non-isothermal crystallization kinetic behavior of PEEK composites was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry at various cooling rates. According to the results, the addition of f-GEi reduced the crystallinity of the PEEK composites and shortened the total crystallization time. The peak temperature and nucleation activity of the f-GEi increased with increasing the mass ratio of PES to GE before declining, those of PEEK/f-GE5 composites were the highest, which suggested the potential of f-GE5 to provide more nucleation sites for PEEK matrix. The addition of f-GEi decreased the temperature gradient required during the crystallization process and reduced the crystallization activation energy. The log(F(T)) values of PEEK/f-GE5 were significantly higher compared to the other PEEK/f-GEi composites, indicating that the interaction between f-GE5 and PEEK matrix was stronger and the mobility of the polymer molecular chain was much difficult.