Role of thermal history on quiescent cold crystallization of PET

The cold crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) has been studied as a function of the initial structure of the glass using density, microhardness, wide angle X-ray scattering, small angle X-ray scattering and DSC measurements. Glassy PET samples varying from slightly crystalline to completely amorphous phase were investigated. Results reveal that differences in the inner structure of the starting glassy material induce different crystallization rates from the glassy amorphous state. Thus, it is observed that crystallization rate decreases with the increasing cooling rate used to quench the samples. Results have been analyzed using the Kolmogroff–Avrami–Evans theory. A good agreement between theoretical and experimental data is obtained providing accurate values for kinetic constants. The different crystallization rates obtained are explained in terms of differences in nucleation density.