Crystallization Kinetics and Crystalline Morphology of Poly(ε-caprolactone) in Blends with Grafted Rubber Particles

The crystallization behavior of pure PCL and PCL in blends with crosslinked rubber particles was studied under (non)isothermal crystallization conditions, where the rubber particles were grafted with PCL chains via hydrogen abstraction of the aliphatic moieties in PCL. The crystal growth and the organization of crystals into spherulitic superstructures are significantly influenced by the presence of the grafted rubber particles, which act as an excellent nucleating agent for PCL. The nucleating efficiency shows an exponential dependency on the PCL grafting density and, according to an Avrami analysis, an increased PCL grafting density increases the overall crystallization rate of the PCL matrix. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 1438-1448, 2010