Crystallization Kinetics in Polymer Nanocomposites

It is well known, that polymer morphology, dynamics and properties can be significantly altered by the incorporation of nano-additives in the polymeric matrix, forming nanocomposite materials. In this work, the effect of silica nanoparticles, SiO₂, in the microstructure and in the crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene oxide), PEO in PEO / SiO₂ nanohybrids is investigated by utilizing simultaneous Small and Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS / WAXS). Isothermal measurements were performed at a broad range of temperatures. The influence of the nanoparticle content was studied by synthesizing hybrids of different composition whereas different polymer molecular weights and different nanoparticle sizes were utilized as well. In both length scales, increasing the amount of nanoparticles leads to decreased crystallinity and smaller crystallization times. Moreover, the formation of a network is revealed by SAXS measurements even for nanohybrids with low nanoparticle content. The results are correlated with the increased interactions and the structure formation that is revealed by rheological measurements as well. Acknowledgements: This research has been partially financed by the EU Horizon Europe Programme (project WISE, Grant Agreement 101138718).