Isothermal crystallisation behaviour and kinetics of polyvinylalcohol/silica nanocomposite

In the present study, the isothermal crystallisation kinetics and behaviour of polyvinylalcohol/silica (PVA/SiO2) nanocomposite prepared with self assembly monolayer (SAM) technique are characterized by conducting differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis. Several kinetics equations are employed to describe the isothermal crystallisation of PVA/SiO2 nanocomposite compared to the pure PVA. During the isothermal crystallisation, the peak crystallisation time (tp), half time of crystallisation (t1/2), degree of crystallinity (Xc), relative degree of crystallinity (Xt) and kinetic rate constant (k) all show a strong dependence on the crystallisation temperature and the presence of SiO2, while the Avrami exponent (n) is hardly affected by crystallisation temperature and SiO2. Activation energy (E) for pure PVA and PVA/SiO2 nanocomposite are 235.8 kJ/mol and 319.7 kJ/mol, respectively.