Isothermal crystallization of polyethylene oxide/silver nanoplate composites

Abstract

This research was accomplished to investigate the kinetics of isothermal crystallization of polyethylene oxide (PEO)/silver nanoplate composites. It was obtained that the spherulites increased in size and numbers with time for the composites with various particle loadings. Additionally, the spherulite growth rate of composites decreased with an increase in the crystallization temperature and increased with the addition of nanoplates. The spherulite growth rate was further analyzed by the theory developed by Lauritzen and Hoffman. The product of the lateral surface free energy (r) and the end surface free energy (r e ) decreased with an increase in the content of nanoplates. We proposed the possible crystallization mechanisms of these PEO/nanoplate composites according to the change of r and r e with the presence of nanoplates. A controlled experiment showed a minor change in PEO crystallization with the presence of a surfactant C 16 TAB. This implied that the unique size and shape of nanoplates plays a key role on hindering the primary nucleation of PEO and increasing the spherulite growth rate.

All-solid-state flexible nanocomposite polymer electrolytes based on poly(ethylene oxide): Lithium perchlorate using functionalized graphene

“…However, a different crystallization behavior was also reported for PEO in the literature, i.e. nanoparticles decreased the T c to hinder the PEO crystallization [44][45][46]. In the present study, it seems that neither GnP nor FGnP have significant effect on the nucleation density of PEO crystallites.…”

Crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) embedded with surface‐modified SiO2 nanoparticles

“…Because σ relates to the segmental nature of polymer chains as reflected by the characteristic ratio ( C ∞ ), a constant σ regardless of the filler content indicates that the presence of NPs does not cause chain extension during crystallization. This assumption has been used with various blends and composite systems . Following this assumption and taking σ = 10 erg cm −2 , σ e was determined (Table ).…”

“…This assumption has been used with various blends and composite systems. 29 Following this assumption and taking σ = 10 erg cm −2 , 28 σ e was determined ( Table 1). Under our experimental condition, K g decreases from 3.65 × 10 4 to 3.36 × 10 4 with the addition of SiO 2 NPs.…”

Effect of polyethylene glycol-grafted graphene on the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(ethylene oxide):lithium perchlorate electrolyte systems

“…Adhikari and Lozano used DSC to investigate the crystallization behavior of PEO/carbon nanofiber systems under nonisothermal conditions and showed that all carbon nanofiber loadings retard the crystallization of PEO [25]. The effect of two-dimensional silver nanoplatelets on the non-isothermal crystallization of PEO has been discussed by Rahmansyah et al [26,27]. They found that the overall crystallization rate of nanocomposites was slower than that of neat PEO and the radius of spherulites was greater.…”