Preparation of Hybrid Nanoparticle Nucleating Agents and Their Effects on the Crystallization Behavior of Poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Zhenzhen Han; Yao Wang; Jiuxing Wang; Shichao Wang; Hongwei Zhuang; Jixian Liu; Linjun Huang; Yanxin Wang; Wei Wang; Laurence A Belfiore; Jianguo Tang

doi:10.3390/ma11040587

Preparation of Hybrid Nanoparticle Nucleating Agents and Their Effects on the Crystallization Behavior of Poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Materials (Basel). 2018 Apr 11;11(4):587. doi: 10.3390/ma11040587.

Authors

Zhenzhen Han¹, Yao Wang², Jiuxing Wang³, Shichao Wang⁴, Hongwei Zhuang⁵, Jixian Liu⁶, Linjun Huang⁷, Yanxin Wang⁸, Wei Wang⁹, Laurence A Belfiore^{10

11}, Jianguo Tang¹²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. 18724713687@163.com.
² Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. Yanxin_2008@126.com.
³ Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. jiuxingwang@foxmail.com.
⁴ Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. wangsc@qdu.edu.cn.
⁵ Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. zhw310310@163.com.
⁶ Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. ljx@qdu.edu.cn.
⁷ Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. newboy66@126.com.
⁸ Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China.
⁹ Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. wangwei040901@163.com.
¹⁰ Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. belfiore@engr.colostate.edu.
¹¹ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. belfiore@engr.colostate.edu.
¹² Institute of Hybrid Materials, The National Base of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, The National Base of Polymer Hybrid Materials in the Programme of Introducing Talents Dicipline to Universities, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. wangyaoqdu@126.com.

Abstract

In this research contribution, the primary objective was to enhance the crystallization behavior of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). To accomplish this tack, three kinds of new nucleating agents SiO₂-diethylene glycol-LMPET (PET-3), SiO₂-triethylene glycol-LMPET(PET-4) and SiO₂-tetraethylene glycol-LMPET (PET-5) nucleating agents were prepared via grafting different oligomers (diethylene glycol; triethylene glycol and tetraethylene glycol) to the surface of nano-SiO₂ and then linking to the low molecular weight poly(ethylene terephthalate) (LMPET). These nano-particle nucleating agents facilitated the crystallization of PET. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies of the composites that pure PET blended with PET-3, PET-4 and PET-5 indicated that the longer ethoxy segment in the nucleating agents exhibited (i) higher degrees of crystallinity; (ii) faster rates of crystallization; and (iii) higher crystallization temperatures. The Jeziorny method was employed to analyze the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of the composites. These works demonstrated that the PET-3, PET-4 and PET-5 were attractive nucleating agents for poly(ethylene terephthalate), and the longer the chain length of the ethoxy segment in the nucleating agents, the more efficient the nucleation effect.

Keywords: PET; nano-SiO2; non-isothermal crystallization; nucleating agent.