Non-isothermal crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide)/silver nanoplate composites

The non-isothermal crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/silver nanoplate composites was studied using differential scanning calorimetry. The non-isothermal crystallization was analyzed by combining the Avrami and Ozawa equations. It was found that the Avrami exponent for neat PEO ranges from 2.51 to 2.53, whereas it ranges from 2.54 to 3.16 for its composites, indicating that the spherical crystal morphology does not change with the addition of nanoplates. However, the rate determination of crystal growth transfers from diffusion to nucleation. The crystallization half-time showed an increase with the addition of silver nanoplates in PEO, indicating that the overall crystallization rate of PEO decreases with the addition of nanoplates. However, the nucleation activity is larger than unity in the composites and the value increases with an increase in the nanoplate content. This behavior implies that the nanoplates act as anti-nucleating agents to hinder nucleation.