Crystal morphology, mechanical property and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/maleinized poly(ethylene-octene) copolymer binary blends

The crystal morphology, impact strength and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/maleinized poly(ethylene-octene) (PTT/PEO-MA) copolymer blends were studied by using the polarized optical microscopy, impact tester and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Avrami theory modified by Jeziorny, Ozawa and Mo theories were used to study the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of the blends, respectively. The results suggest that these methods are suitable for analyzing the crystallization kinetics of the PTT/PEO-MA blends. The PEO-MA component, serving as a nucleation agent in blends, can increase the start crystallization temperatures and accelerate the crystallization rate of the blends. The crystal dimensions are predominantly three-dimensional growths, judged from the Avrami exponent n and the Ozawa exponent m, but the spherulites in blends are much smaller than those in pure PTT. The crystallization active energy suggests that the PEO-MA component can make the PTT component easy to crystallize in blends. The blend has the highest Izod impact strength as PEO-MA content is 3 wt.%. Considering both the crystallization kinetic analyses results and the crystal morphology of the blends, the modified Avrami method is believed to be the most useful in reflecting the crystallization of the blends.