Crystallization behavior of star-shaped poly(ethylene oxide) with cubic silsesquioxane (CSSQ) core

The crystallization behavior of well-defined star-shaped cubic silsesquioxane-poly(ethylene oxide) (CSSQ-PEO) and linear PEO were studied in terms of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). It was found in DSC analysis that the glass transition temperature (T_g) and the crystallization temperature (T_c) of CSSQ-PEO are different from those of linear PEO. The presence of CSSQ in PEO reduced the overall crystallization growth rate. This effect can be ascribed to the reduction of the mobility of the PEO crystallites in the presence of CSSQ and the star structure of the polymer. The Ozawa method is qualitatively satisfactory for describing the nonisothermal crystallizations of linear PEO and CSSQ-PEO. The presence of CSSQ leads to the diffusion- and nucleation-controlled mechanisms in the crystallization process of CSSQ-PEO whilst only the nucleation-controlled mechanism was observed in the case of linear PEO. The apparent activation energy required for crystallization was calculated using the Kissinger method. The isothermal crystallization morphology of PEO and CSSQ-PEO were also examined by cross-polarizing optical microscopy (CPOM). The CPOM images indicated the spherulite growth is slower in CSSQ-PEO as compared to linear PEO. It was also investigated that more number of PEO spherulites in CSSQ-PEO were observed, which sizes are markedly smaller than the spherulites developed in linear PEO. Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) studies showed that the crystallization peaks for linear PEO and CSSQ-PEO appeared at different temperature revealing the crystallization process and crystal growth rate are different from each other. However, no significant distortion of the crystal structure of PEO was evaluated in the presence of CSSQ.