Crystallization behavior of poly(ethylene terephthalate)/pyrrolidinium ionic liquid

Composites of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) with ionic liquid (IL) as matrix were prepared by in situ polycondensation. XRD and DSC were performed to probe crystal structures and determine the crystallization kinetics during crystallization. ILs could serve as nucleating agents in accelerating the crystallization of PET. However, the ability of ILs to induce crystallization is different with variation of IL content. Avrami analysis revealed that the Avrami exponent, n>2, testifies to the existence of three-dimensional spherulitic growth. The kinetic equations (the modified Avrami equation and the combined Avrami and Ozawa equation) are employed to analyze the non-isothermal process. The modified Avrami equation could adequately describe the primary non-isothermal crystallization of PET/IL. The approach of combining the Avrami and Ozawa equations provides a fairly satisfactory description of the non-isothermal crystallization of PET/IL. (c) 2013 Society of Chemical Industry