BLENDS OF POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE WITH CO[POLY(ETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE-P-OXYBENZOATE)] .1. CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS BY DSC STUDY

The dynamic and isothermal crystallization behaviors of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) blended with two types of co[poly(ethylene terephthalate-p-oxybenzoate){ copolyesters with different compositions, i.e., POB/PET = 20/80 (P28) and POB/PET = 80/20 (P82), has been studied by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Both of these copolyesters in 10 wt % increase crystallization rate of PET in a manner similar to that of a nucleating agent. It is found that sample P28, which is an isotropic copolyester, accelerates the crystallization rate more significantly than that of P82, which is a thermotropic copolyester. The Avrami exponents n and rate constants k of these samples based on DSC studies were obtained in order to discuss the crystallization kinetics of PET accelerated by these copolyesters. The crystallization rate of the blends is also increased by 8 min blending due to the increased uniformity of the copolyester dispersed in the PET matrix. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.