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Crystallization behavior of poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) in poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) and poly(vinyl methyl ether) mixtures
Author(s) -
Meng Yanfeng,
Li Hongfei,
Huo Hong,
Jiang Shichun,
An Lijia
Publication year - 2007
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.26241
Subject(s) - crystallization , miscibility , materials science , crystallinity , caprolactone , amorphous solid , polymer chemistry , ether , chemical engineering , spherulite (polymer physics) , isothermal process , thermodynamics , polymer , composite material , copolymer , crystallography , organic chemistry , chemistry , physics , engineering
The morphological development and crystallization behavior of poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) (PCL) in miscible mixtures of PCL and poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) were investigated by optical microscopy as a function of the mixture composition and crystallization temperature. The results indicated that the degree of crystallinity of PCL was independent of the mixture composition upon melt crystallization because the glass‐transition temperatures of the mixtures were much lower than the crystallization temperature of PCL. The radii of the PCL spherulites increased linearly with time at crystallization temperatures ranging from 42 to 49°C. The isothermal growth rates of PCL spherulites decreased with the amount of the amorphous PVME components in the mixtures. Accounting for the miscibility of PCL/PVME mixtures, the radial growth rates of PCL spherulites were well described by a kinetic equation involving the Flory–Huggins interaction parameter and the free energy for the nuclei formation in such a way that the theoretical calculations were in good agreement with the experimental data. From the analysis of the equilibrium melting point depression, the interaction energy density of the PVME/PCL system was calculated to be −3.95 J/cm 3 . © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007