Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer using integral Avrami equation

Abstract

Abstract The non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (ETFE, Fluon®C-88AXP) was studied by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The Jeziorny, Ozawa, Mo, and Kissinger equations have been used to describe the crystallization data. The Ozawa and Kissinger plots show downward curves instead of the linear relationship as predicted. Good linear relationship was obtained using the Jeziorny and Mo equations but no vital model parameters concerned with the crystallization kinetics could be acquired. The integral Avrami equation combining with Hoffman equation has been used to describe the crystallization data through nonlinear regression method and kinetic parameters have been acquired. The fitting quality improves when the thermal lag effect was taken into consideration. Meanwhile, the linearity of the Ozawa and Kissinger analysis is improved greatly and the Ozawa exponent and crystallization activity energy of the copolymer have been obtained.