ABSTRACT:

Basalt fiber (BF) filled poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) composites were prepared by melt mixing for the crystallization study. The results reveal that both pristine and treated BFs have remarkable nucleation effect on the crystallization of PCL, but the latter has higher nucleation activity than the former. However, the PCL chain diffusion is restrained by the barrier effect of BF and the increased viscosities, leading to an increase of crystallization activation energy. But nucleation is dominant because composites have far higher rates of crystallization than neat PCL. The presence of BF does not alter lamellar structure, but favors the formation of the nuclei with denser fold surface. This leads to an increase of the degree of crystallinity of PCL matrix, especially for the treated BF filled composite. This work can provide useful information on the crystallization control of PCL using BF and on the preparation of novel PCL/BF composites with controllable properties.

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http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.iecr.6b04510