Crystallization kinetics of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions

Crystallization kinetics of the biodegradable and fast crystallizing poly(butylene succinate) is studied, under both isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. For the isothermal process at temperatures from 75 to 95 degrees C it is found that the Avrami model successfully describes the transformation kinetics. The non-isothermal crystallization data obtained at a wide range of cooling rates from 0.1 to 20 degrees C . min(-1) are treated with several models, which include the modified Avrami, the Ozawa, the combined Avrami-Ozawa, and the Tobin model. The Lauritzen-Hoffman parameters are estimated from isothermal and non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry data, using different approximations for the growth rate and from the effective activation energy equation proposed by Vyazovkin and Sbirrazzuoli. The multiple-melting behavior has been interpreted in the context of the melting-recrystallization-remelting phenomena