Crystallization phenomena in polymers - Preliminary investigation of the crystallization characteristics of polyethylene terephthalate

Abstract

An exploration has been made of the factors that affect the rates of crystallization of polyethylene terephthalate and the effect of the crystallization conditions on the crystalline state of the polymer. The rate and course of the crystallization is affected by molecular structural features such as molecular weight, the temperature of the crystallization and by a number of physical factors arising in the fabrication of the sample. These last factors include those arising in the melting of the polymer prior to the crystallization and also the previous crystalline state of the polymer prior to melting. All these factors also affect the resulting crystalline state of the polymer in terms of ‘grain size’, and the temperature of the crystallization also affects the degree of order of the crystalline arrangement of the polymer molecules.