Effects of Catalyst and Polymerization Temperature on the In-Situ Polymerization of Cyclic Poly(Butylene Terephthalate) Oligomers for Composite Applications

Abstract

The in-situ polymerization at different polymerization temperatures, and the crystallization behavior of cyclic poly(butylene terephthalate) oligomers, using various process-suitable catalysts, are investigated in this paper. The choice of the catalyst has a large effect on the polymer conversion and the time required for polymerization, as studied by light transmittance measurements. The resulting polymer is characterized by GPC for molecular weight and polydispersity and by WAXD and DSC for crystal morphology. SALS is used for in-situ observation of the melt crystallization during polymerization.