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Preparation and crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate)/SiO 2 nanocomposites by in‐situ polymerization
Author(s) -
Yang Yongzhe,
Xu Hong,
Gu Hongchen
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.24500
Subject(s) - crystallization , materials science , nucleation , differential scanning calorimetry , nanocomposite , chemical engineering , transmission electron microscopy , ethylene , in situ polymerization , nanoparticle , polymer chemistry , polymerization , polarized light microscopy , composite material , polymer , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chemistry , physics , optics , engineering , thermodynamics , catalysis
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/SiO 2 nanocomposites were prepared by in situ polymerization. The dispersion and crystallization behaviors of PET/SiO 2 nanocomposites were characterized by means of transmission electron microscope (TEM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and polarizing light microscope (PLM). TEM measurements show that SiO 2 nanoparticles were well dispersed in the PET matrix at a size of 10–20 nm. The results of DSC and PLM, such as melt‐crystalline temperature, half‐time of crystallization and crystallization kinetic constant, suggest that SiO 2 nanoparticles exhibited strong nucleating effects. It was found that SiO 2 nanoparticles could effectively promote the nucleation and crystallization of PET, which may be due to reducing the specific surface free energy for nuclei formation during crystallization and consequently increase the crystallization rate. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 655–662, 2006