Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Poly(ethylene oxide)/Poly(ethylene glycol)--silica Nanocomposites.

In this work, the crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) matrix included with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafted silica (PEG--SiO) nanoparticles and bare SiO were systematically investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light optical microscopy (PLOM) method. PEG--SiO can significantly increase the crystallinity and crystallization temperature of PEO matrix under the non-isothermal crystallization process. Pronounced effects of PEG--SiO on the crystalline morphology and crystallization rate of PEO were further characterized by employing spherulitic morphological observation and isothermal crystallization kinetics analysis.