Study of the Quiescent and Shear-Induced Crystallization Kinetics of Intercalated PTT/MMT Nanocomposites

An intercalated nanocomposite made of montmorillonite nanoclay, MMT, and poly(trimethylene terephthalate), PTT, was produced by twin screw extrusion and characterized by wide angle X-ray diffraction, WAXD, and transmission electron microscopy, TEM. The quiescent isothermal and non-isothermal and the flow-induced crystallization of the nanocomposite were studied by differential scanning calorimetry, DSC, polarized light optical microscopy, PLOM, and rheometry. The quiescent results showed that the nanoclay acted as an efficient nucleating agent for the PTT, which result in an anticipation of the transition temperature between regimes 11 and III of crystallization. The fold interfacial free energy, a., of the PTT in the nanocomposite during regime III was lower than in the pure state; that is, the pure PTT developed spherulites, whereas in the nanocomposite it produced a paracrystalline morphology. Under shear rate, the total times for crystallization in the nanocomposite were higher than in the pure PTT. In flow-induced crystallization, a fibrillar nucleus must be formed as a result of chain orientation. In the nanocomposite, chain orientation only occurred after the percolated structure was broken. Therefore, the formation of a fibrillar nucleus in the nanocomposite took more time, which increased the total crystallization time. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 113-127, 2010