Abstract: Crystal morphology, melting and non-isothermal crystallization behavior of linear low density polyethylene/glass bead (PE-LLD/GB) composites were investigated by X-ray diffraction, polarization microscope, and differential scanning calorimeter. Jeziorny and Mo methods were applied to analyze the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of PE-LLD and PE-LLD/GB composites and the activation energy (ΔE) was estimated based on Kissinger method. Upon addition of GB, the size and crystallites was decreased. GB acted as a nucleating agent for the non-isothermal crystallization of PE-LLD, and increased the crystallization onset temperature (To). At a GB content of 8 wt %, the crystallization rate reached the highest value. In addition, the presence of GB increased the crystallization activation energy when the GB content was below 5 wt %.

Key words: linear low density polyethylene, glass bead, melting behavior, non-isothermal crystallization