CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF POLYTRIDECANOLACTONE AND POLYPENTADECANOLACTONE

The crystallization kinetics of fractionated samples of polytridecanol actone and polypentadecanolactone have been investigated and compared. The general constitutional repeating unit is [(CH2)(n)CO-O], where n is 12 and 14 for PTDL and PPDL respectively. Equilibrium melting point s have been deduced by the Hoffman-Week extrapolation method and found to be close to 364 K and 370 K, respectively. The Lauritzen-Hoffman t heory of crystal growth is applied to the data and the extracted nucle ation parameters are compared with the ones for polyethylene. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.