Critical assessment of overall crystallization kinetics theories and predictions

The widely applied approaches to the description of the conversion of melt into spherulites are reviewed and critically assessed. The attention is focused on the polymer crystallization in quiescent conditions. Both isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization processes are considered, including also the crystallization in a temperature gradient. In addition, the approaches to the description of the influence of spatial confinement and additional nucleation processes on surfaces confining the material on the conversion of melt into spherulites are discussed. Since similar phenomena occur also in fiber-reinforced systems, the theoretical predictions of the overall crystallization kinetics in these systems are also included in the present review. The possible reasons of discrepancies between the theoretical predictions and the experimental data are analyzed.