Heterogeneous nucleation of crystallization of high polymers from the melt. III. Nucleation kinetics and interfacial energies

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Abstract
In the melt crystallization of isotactic polypropylene, poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(butene‐1) in contact with substrates, the existence of a fixed number of nucleating sites on the substrate surfaces has been established. When these sites become active successively (the transient in the number of nuclei is long) during crystallization, pseudohomogeneous nucleation on the substrate occurs. Nucleation rates for poly(butene‐1) and poly(ethylene oxide) on substrates and in bulk have been measured. These data can be used for comparing the nucleating ability of substrates. Estimates of the variation of bulk nucleation rates from one volume element to another as well as for repeated crystallization within a given volume element have been included. Finally, the temperature coefficients of heterogeneous nucleation rates have been combined with the temperature coefficient of spherulitic growth rate of poly(butene‐1), to yield values of the interfacial energy parameters appearing in the theory of heterogeneous nucleation. The quantitative characterization of the nucleating ability of substrates by this method is an improvement over the mere use of nucleation densities or nucleation rates.