Monte Carlo Simulation Study of Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Polyethylene Glycol

Abstract

Isothermal crystallization kinetics of polyethylene glycol (PEG) was investigated by use of Monte Carlo computer simulation. Nucleation mechanism, some crystallization parameters used in simulation and the crystalline morphology of PEG were first measured with a hot stage polarizing microscope (HSPOM). The results showed that under an instantaneous nucleation condition, PEG exhibited well-defined and large spherulites as being crystallized from the melt at various crystallization temperatures. The linear growth rate of PEG decreased as the crystallization temperature increased. The Avrami equation was suitable to describe the primary simulated isothermal crystallization process of PEG. With the increase of crystallization temperature, the overall crystallization rate decreased, while the Avrami exponent, approaching 3, almost remained unchanged. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was employed to confirm the validity of the established simulation model. INTRODUCTIONUnderstanding the crystallization kinetics of polymer is important for assessing their processing-property interrelationship. The physical and mechanical properties of polymer are dependent on the developed crystallinity governed by the combined influence. The morphology of polymer can vary depending upon the relative crystallization times and the extent of crystallization as a function of temperature of the component polymers. Information regarding these parameters is necessary in order to understand the microstructure development in melt processing. Therefore, study of the crystallization kinetics is necessary for optimizing industrial processes and establishing the

Spherulitic Characterization and Hierarchical Structural Evaluation of Azacalixarene‐Polyethylene Glycol Copolymers Containing s‐Triazine Rings

“…The spherulite radius of PEG alone formed under almost similar conditions (isothermal crystallization at 49.5 °C) remained at 250 µm. [ 44 ] Since this size of PEG spherulite was very small and predict to attain high crystallinity, it seems that Spherulite growth and crystallinity suppression of ACAT‐PEG was influenced by existence of bulky azacalixarene moiety. Also, from the WAXD results in Figure 6, the crystallinity of the ACAT‐PEG copolymer is calculated to be 39%.…”