Isothermal crystallization of poly(ethylene-co-glycidyl methacrylate)/clay nanocomposites

✍ Scribed by Jiann-Wen Huang; Chiun-Chia Kang; Tse-Hsin Chen

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 297 KB
• Volume: 97
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/app.21120

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Poly(ethylene‐co‐glycidyl methacrylate) (PEGMA)/clay nanocomposites with clay concentrations of 1, 3, or 5 wt % were prepared via y melt blending in a twin‐screw extruder. Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction showed that the clay layers were intercalated by PEGMA. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to analyze the isothermal crystallization, and the equilibrium melting temperature was determined with the Hoffman–Weeks method. The Avrami, Tobin, Malkin, and Urbanovici–Segal models were applied to describe the kinetics of crystallization from the melt state under isothermal conditions. The crystallization kinetics showed that the addition of clay facilitated the crystallization of PEGMA, with the clay functioning as a heterophase nucleating agent; at higher concentrations, however, the physical hindrance of the clay layers to the motion of PEGMA chains retarded the crystallization process. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 1051–1064, 2005