Nucleation kinetics of polymer formation on nucleation agent

The initial stadium of crystallization of polymers (nucleation process) on a nucleation agent is studied within the standard nucleation model. A nucleation agent is added to the melt to increase the nucleation rate. It is supposed that nucleation agent forms nucleation centers, or active centers, on which the formation of crystalline polymer starts. The basic kinetic equations describing such a process are solved numerically to determine the basic characteristics of nucleation process-the number density of nuclei, nucleation rate and the total number of nuclei as a function of time. The results of numerical computation are in good agreement with the experimental data obtained by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) method for polyethylene. The rate of formation of nuclei of various sizes reaches the same limit at long times. This limit is lower than the corresponding stationary nucleation rate due to exhaustion of active centers during polymer formation process, which was taken into account.