Crystallization kinetics of glass fiber reinforced PBT composites

The effect of glass fibers on the crystallization of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) was investigated by crystallization kinetics analysis under isothermal and nonisothermal conditions. From the crosspolar optical micrographs of melt- and solvent-crystallized PBT composites, the glass fibers were found to increase the number density and decrease the size of crystallites. The glass fibers provided heterogeneous nucleation sites, and thus enhanced the overall rate of PBT crystallization in isothermal experiments. However, the Avrami exponent and the regime transitions were not significantly affected by the presence of glass fibers. For the nonisothermal kinetics of PBT composites, the model prediction was excellent in most ranges of crystallization, but it deviated above 70% of crystallization especially at fast cooling rates (>40 degrees C/min). This discrepancy of the model seemed to result from the growth. regime transitions, which were clearly observed especially at high undercoolings. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.