Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Fiber/Polylactic Acid Composites and Morphology

Abstract

The isothermal crystallization behavior of fiber including glass fiber, carbon fiber and basalt fiber reinforced PLA composites was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).The morphology of isothermally crystallized fiber/PLA composites was observed by polarized optical microscope (POM) equipped with a hot stage. The results showed that the presence of fiber greatly accelerated the bulk crystallization rate of PLA and changed the crystalline morphology of PLA from the spherulites to transcrystallization. And the reason for the development of transcrystallization was considered to be relevant to the compatibility of the interface between fibers and PLA.

Keywords:

• Crystallization
• Fiber
• Kinetics
• Nucleation
• Polylactic acid

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We acknowledge financial support from Science and Technology Development Foundation of China Academy of Engineering Physics (Grant number: 2008A0302012).