CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE LINEAR LOW-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE BLEND

This article presents crystallization kinetics studies on a cocrystallizing polymer high-density polyethylene (HDPE)/linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) blend. The non-isothermal crystallization exotherms obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were analyzed to investigate the effect of cocrystallization on kinetics parameters, namely the Avrami exponent and activation energy. The regular change of Avrami exponent with blend composition from a value of about 3 corresponding to HDPE to a value of 2 corresponding to LLDPE is observed. A sheaf-like crystalline growth with variation of nucleation depending on blend composition is concluded from these results of DSC exotherm analysis in conjunction with the small-angle light scattering observations. The observed variation of activation energy of crystallization with blend composition suggests the role of interaction of side chains and comonomer units present in the LLDPE. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, inc.