Impact of nucleating agents of PVDF on the crystallization of PVDF/PMMA blends

The enhanced nucleation of poly(vinylidene fluoride) in its blends with PMMA, and its impact on the crystallization kinetics and overall crystallinity of the PVDF/PMMA blends are investigated. Since in the blends the growth rates are significantly slowed down and spread over a wider crystallization range, nucleation has a significant impact on the crystallization process. In particular, crystallization peaks are shifted upwards by up to 30°C for nucleated samples. These higher crystallization temperatures make it possible to reach, upon cooling, high degrees of crystallinity for PVDF/PMMA compositions down to 50/50, i.e. for blends which remain amorphous when not nucleated.