Monte Carlo Simulation Study of Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Polyethylene Glycol

Isothermal crystallization kinetics of polyethylene glycol (PEG) was investigated by use of Monte Carlo computer simulation. Nucleation mechanism, some crystallization parameters used in simulation and the crystalline morphology of PEG were first measured with a hot stage polarizing microscope (HSPOM). The results showed that under an instantaneous nucleation condition, PEG exhibited well-defined and large spherulites as being crystallized from the melt at various crystallization temperatures. The linear growth rate of PEG decreased as the crystallization temperature increased. The Avrami equation was suitable to describe the primary simulated isothermal crystallization process of PEG. With the increase of crystallization temperature, the overall crystallization rate decreased, while the Avrami exponent, approaching 3, almost remained unchanged. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was employed to confirm the validity of the established simulation model.