Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics-Morphology Relationship

It can be concluded that the self-nucleation treatment was 100% efficient and therefore the data obtained by DSC after self-nucleation contain information on crystal growth only hence, the identical values of Kg obtained. In samples that were not self-nucleated, the Kg values obtained by the LH treatment from DSC data were much larger than those obtained by PLOM this can be explained by the contribution of both primary nucleation and growth. 

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In this chapter, we take a practical approach to briefly explain how to experimentally determine both spherulitic growth rates by polarized light optical Microscopy (PLOM) and overall isothermal crystallization kinetics by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). We give examples on how to fit the data using both the Avrami theory and the Lauritzen and Hoffman theory. Both theories provide useful analytical equations that when properly handled represent valuable tools to understand crystallization kinetics and its relationship with morphology. They also have several shortcomings that are pointed out. 

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