Abstract: Poly(butylenes terephthalate)/Nano-SiO₂ nanocomposites were prepared by melt blending using a twin screw extruder. The nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of the nanocomposites was studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the effect of SiO₂ was explored. It showed that crystallization peak temperature for the nanocomposites was much higher than that of neat PBT. Nano-SiO₂ accelerated the crystallization rate, indicating an obvious heterogeneous nucleation. Crystallization kinetics data was analyzed by Ozawa, Mo, and Kissinger methods. The results confirmed the applicability of Mo, and Kissinger models, and the inadequacy of the Ozawa approach. In addition, a lower activation energy was observed at a low content of nano-SiO₂ (0.3wt%) than that at a high content (3.0wt%).

Key words: poly(butylene terephthalate), nanosilica, nonisothermal crystallization, kinetics, nanocomposites