Crystallization Kinetics, Melting Behavior, and Morphologies of Poly(butylene succinate) and Poly(butylene succinate)-block-poly(propylene glycol) Segmented Copolyester

This article investigated the crystallization kinetics, melting behavior, and morphologies of poly(butylene succinate)(PBS) and its segmented copolyester poly(butylene succinate)-block-poly(propylene glycol)(PBSP) by means of differential scanning calorimetry, polarized light microscopy, and wide angle X-ray diffraction. Avrami equation was used to describe the isothermal crystallization kinetics. For nonisothermal crystallization studies, the Avrami equation modified by Jeziorny, and the model combining Avrami equation and Ozawa equation were employed. The results showed that the introduction of poly(propylene glycol) soft segment led to suppression of crystallization of PBS hard segment. The melting behavior of the isothermally and nonisothermally crystallized samples was also studied. Results showed that the isothermally crystallized samples exhibited two melting endotherms, whereas only one melting endotherm was shown after nonisothermal crystallization. The spherulitic morphology of PBSP and wide angle X-ray diffraction showed that the polyether segments were excluded from the crystals and resided in between crystalline PBS lamellae and mixed with amorphous PBS. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 118: 2225-2235, 2010