Nonisothermal Crystallization and Melting Behavior of in-situ Polymerized Nylon 11/Nylon 66 Composites

Nylon-11/nylon-66 composites were prepared via in-situ polymerization. The nonisothermal crystallization behavior of neat nylon-11 and its composites was carried out using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The modified Avrami equation, the Ozawa theory, the modified Ozawa equation and an equation combining the Avrami and Ozawa equation were employed to study the crystallization behavior. It is found that the Ozawa analysis fails to provide an adequate description of the nonisothermal crystallization process in both neat nylon-11 and its composites. While the combination of Avrami and Ozawa equations is effective to analyze the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics. The activation energies were determined by the Kissinger method for nonisothermal crystallization. The activation energies for composites are greater than that for neat nylon-11. In addition, the subsequent DSC scans have also been performed to investigate the melting behaviors of the nonisothermally crystallized samples. Results reveal that the nonisothermally crystallized samples exhibit two melting endotherms, and the lower endotherm is dependent on the cooling rate.