ISSN:
0032-3888
Keywords:
Chemistry
;
Chemical Engineering
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
,
Physics
Notes:
A concentric cyclinder dilatometer was designed and built to study the influence of shear on the crystallization kinetics of polymers. This instrument allows crystallization to be followed at both constant temperature and shear rate. Several samples of polyethylene oxide (Carbowax 4000, Carbowax 20-M, and WSR-205) were used. A low molecular weight fraction of the Carbowax 20-M, as well as the unfractionated material, was crystallized under shear. The WSR-205 was studied only in a mixture with Carbowax 4000. It was shown that the kinetics of crystallization of uncrosslinked melts of polyethylene oxide are altered by shear. The induction times for the appearance of crystallinity are shorter in the sheared systems than in the quiescent melts. The Avrami exponents are also higher for crystallization in sheared melts than in quiescent systems and increase with decreasing supercooling. The high values of the Avrami exponent are attributed to the disruption of crystalline aggregates into particles larger than the critical sized nucleus. These particles will persist in the melt and continue to grow spontaneously. A continuous infusion of growing particles into the melt occurs.At constant temperature and shear rate, the induction time of the crystallization curve is influenced by polymer molecular weight. In moderate to high molecular weight samples, the effect of shear becomes saturated at very low shear rates. Decreasing the molecular weight separates the crystallization curves. The curves from the higher shear rates appear at the shorter induction times. However, decreasing the molecular weight below that at the critical entanglement molecular weight allows the nucleation rate, strongly dependent upon the supercooling, to influence the relative positions of the sheared crystallization curves.
Additional Material:
12 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pen.760140602
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