Crystal nucleation and growth in polyethylene terephthalate/alumina- nanoparticle composites

The effect of nanoparticles on nonisothermal polymer crystallization was investigated using poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) nanocomposites with alumina (Al ₂O ₃) nanoparticles of average size 38 nm. The filler content in the nanocomposites was varied from 0 to 10 wt %. The interparticle spacing was observed to decrease (as expected) with an increase in loading of the nanoparticles. Contrary to previous reports in the literature on semicrystalline polymer-based composites with micron-size and macroscale particles, our differential scanning calorimetry, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray studies showed that the addition of the nanoparticles did not cause heterogeneous nucleation of PET crystals in nanocomposites containing up to 3 wt % Al ₂O ₃. This is attributed to the nanoparticle curvature being comparable to the radius of gyration of the polymer. The addition of the nanoparticles was found to disrupt the spherulitic morphology of the PET because of their physical presence and their proximity to one another.