Crystalline morphology and isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene terephthalate)/clay nanocomposites

A poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/montmorillonite clay nanocomposite was synthesized via in situ polymerization. Microscopic studies revealed that in an isothermal crystallization process, some crystallites in the nanocomposite initially were rod-shaped and later exhibited three-dimensional growth. The crystallites in the nanocomposite were irregularly shaped, rather than spherulitic, being interlocked together without clear boundaries, and they were much smaller than those of neat PET. With Avrami analysis, the isothermal crystallization kinetic parameters (the Avrami exponent and constant) were obtained. The rate constants for the nanocomposite demonstrated that clay could greatly increase the crystallization rate of PET. The results for the Avrami exponent were consistent with the observation of the rodlike crystallites in the PET/clay nanocomposite during the initial stage. Wide-angle X-ray scattering and Fourier transform infrared studies showed that, in comparison with neat PET, the crystal lattice parameters and crystallinity of the nanocomposite did not change significantly, whereas more defects may have been present in the crystalline regions of the nanocomposite because of the presence of the clay. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.