Jyotishkumar Parameswaranpillai, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Science at Alliance University, Karnataka, India. He has published extensively on polymer crystallization and related subjects and his past awards and honors include the DSTs INSPIRE Faculty Award and the Kerala State Award for Best Young Scientist. Jenny Jacob, PhD, is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Bioscience at Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies Tiruvalla. She has published extensively and received numerous awards for her research into polymer crystallization and related fields. Senthilkumar Krishnasamy, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research, Coimbatore, India. He has researched extensively into polymer composites and related subjects and has edited several books. Aswathy Jayakumar, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Food and Nutrition, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea. She received the award for Best Paper in Biotechnology at the 31st Kerala Science Congress, 2019, and has published extensively on nanotechnology-based food packaging systems and related fields. Nishar Hameed, PhD, is Group Leader in Smart Materials and Composites and an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. He has published widely in numerous high-quality international journals.

• Preface xiEditor Biography xiii1 Introduction to Polymer Crystallization 1N.M. Nurazzi, M.N.F. Norrrahim, S.S. Shazleen, M.M. Harussani, F.A. Sabaruddin, and M.R.M. Asyraf1.1 Introduction 11.2 Degree of Crystallinity 31.3 Thermodynamics on the Crystallization of Polymers Characteristics 41.4 Polymer Crystallization Mechanism 51.4.1 Strain-Induced Crystallization of Polymer 51.4.2 Crystallization of Polymer from Solution 71.5 Applications of Crystalline Polymer 8References 102 Characterization of Polymer Crystallization by Using Thermal Analysis 13Kai Yang, Xiuling Zhang, Mohanapriya Venkataraman, Jakub Wiener, and Jiri Militky2.1 Introduction 132.2 Basic Principle 142.2.1 General Idea 142.2.2 Application of DSC Method 152.3 Characterization of Polymer Crystallization According to Isothermal Crystallization Process 162.3.1 Performance of Isothermal Crystallization Process 162.3.2 Analysis of Isothermal Crystallization Process 162.3.2.1 Crystal Geometry 172.3.2.2 Characterization of Crystallization Rate 182.3.2.3 Characterization of Crystallization Activation Energy 182.3.3 Isothermal Crystallization of Some Polymer Composites 192.4 Characterization of Polymer Non-isothermal Crystallization Process 202.4.1 Basics of Nonlinear Crystallization Modeling 202.4.2 Performance of Non-isothermal Crystallization Process 202.4.3 Analysis of Crystal Geometry During Non-isothermal Crystallization Process 212.4.3.1 Jeziorny-Modified Avrami Equation 212.4.3.2 Ozawa Model 212.4.3.3 Mo model 252.4.4 Determination of Crystallization Activation Energy (E) 262.4.5 Analysis of Relative Crystallinity 272.5 Conclusion 27Acknowledgment 28Abbreviations 28References 283 Crystallization Behavior of Polypropylene and Its Blends and Composites 33Daniela Mileva, Davide Tranchida, Enrico Carmeli, Dietrich Gloger, and Markus Gahleitner3.1 Introduction – Polypropylene Crystallinity in Perspective 333.2 Chain Structure and Molecular Weight Effects for iPP Crystallinity and Polymorphism 373.3 Nucleation of iPP 423.4 Crystallization in Multiphase Copolymers, Blends, and Composites 473.5 Processing Effects and Resulting Properties 543.6 Investigation Methods for PP Crystallization and Morphology 60Acknowledgments 64References 654 Crystallization of PE and PE-Based Blends, and Composites 87Amirhosein Sarafpour, Gholamreza Pircheraghi, Farzad Gholami, Rouhollah Shami-Zadeh, and Farzad Jani4.1 An Introduction to Polyethylene, Its Crystallization, and Kinetics 874.1.1 Basics of Structure and Morphology 874.1.2 Theory of Crystallization and Its Kinetics 924.2 Experimental Study on Crystallization Kinetics of Polyethylene 934.2.1 Isothermal Crystallization 934.2.2 Non-isothermal Crystallization 964.3 Nucleation Theory 994.4 Crystal Growth 1004.5 PE Blends and Co-crystallization 1034.6 PE Nanocomposites 1094.7 Summary 112References 1125 Crystallization of PLA and Its Blends and Composites 121Jesús M. Quiroz-Castillo, Ana D. Cabrera-González, Luis A. Val-Félix, and Tomás J. Madera-Santana5.1 Introduction 1215.2 Crystallization of Macromolecules 1235.2.1 Improvement of PLA Crystallization Kinetics 1265.3 Polylactic Acid Nucleation 1305.3.1 Inorganic Nucleating Agents 1305.3.2 Organic Nucleating Agents 1335.4 Polylactic Acid Blends 1365.4.1 Polylactic Acid Binary Blends with Biopolymers–Starch and PHAs 1365.4.2 Polylactic Acid Binary Blends with Biodegradable Polymers – PCL, PBAT, and PBS 1385.5 Polylactic Acid Composites 1395.5.1 Polylactic Acid – Natural Fiber Composites 1395.5.2 Polylactic Acid – Nanocomposites 1405.6 Conclusions 143References 1446 Crystallization in PLLA-Based Blends, and Composites 161Pratick Samanta and Bhanu Nandan6.1 Introduction 1616.2 Chemical and Crystal Structure of PLLA 1626.3 PLLA Properties: Glass Transition and Melting Temperature 1626.3.1 Glass Transition Temperature 1626.3.2 Melting Temperature 1636.4 PLLA Crystallization 1636.4.1 PLLA Crystallization Study Through Spherulite Growth 1636.4.2 Lauritzen and Hoffman Theory in PLLA Crystallization 1646.4.3 Crystallization Kinetics Through Calorimetry Study 1666.5 Crystallization of PLLA in Blends 1686.6 Crystallization of PLLA in Nanocomposites 1726.7 Crystallization of PLLA in Block Copolymer 1756.8 Crystallization of PLLA After Adding Nucleating Agents 1786.9 PLLA Plasticization 1826.10 Conclusion and Future Outlook 182References 1837 Crystallization in PCL-Based Blends and Composites 195Madhushree Hegde, Akshatha Chandrashekar, Mouna Nataraja, Jineesh A. Gopi, Niranjana Prabhu, and Jyotishkumar Parameswaranpillai7.1 Introduction 1957.2 Crystallinity of PCL and the Factors Affecting Crystallinity 1957.3 Crystalline Behavior of PCL-Based Multiphase Polymer Systems 1997.3.1 Crystallization Behavior of Blends of PCL 1997.3.2 Crystallization Behavior of Block Copolymers of PCL 2027.3.3 Effect of Fillers on the Crystalline Behavior of PCL 2037.4 Conclusion 207References 2088 Crystallization and Shape Memory Effect 215Shiji Mathew8.1 Introduction 2158.2 Shape Memory Cycle 2168.3 Mechanism of Shape Memory Effect 2178.4 Types of Shape Memory Polymers 2188.5 Biomedical Applications of Shape Memory Polymers 2188.5.1 Tissue Engineering 2188.5.2 Bone Engineering 2208.5.3 Medical Stents 2218.5.4 Drug Delivery Application 2228.5.5 SMPs as Self-Healing Materials 2228.5.6 Vascular Embolization 2268.6 Conclusion 227References 2279 3D Printing of Crystalline Polymers 233Hiriyalu S. Ashrith, Tamalapura P. Jeevan, and Hanume Gowda V. Divya9.1 Introduction 2339.2 3D Printing Materials and Processes 2349.2.1 Nylon and Polyamides 2349.2.2 Polyethylene 2389.2.3 Polyethylene Terephthalate 2409.2.4 Polypropylene 2419.2.5 Polylactic Acid 2439.3 Characterization of 3D-Printed Crystalline Polymers 2449.3.1 Mechanical Properties/Mechanical Characteristics 2449.3.2 Thermal Properties/Thermal Characteristics 2469.3.3 Tribological Properties/Tribological Characteristics 2479.4 Conclusion 248References 25010 Crystallization from Anisotropic Polymer Melts 255Daniel P. da Silva, James J. Holt, Supatra Pratumshat, Paula Pascoal-Faria, Artur Mateus, and Geoffrey R. Mitchell10.1 Introduction 25510.2 Evaluating Anisotropy 25610.3 Crystallization During Deformation of Networks 25810.4 Sheared Polymer Melts 26010.5 Crystallization During Injection Molding 26410.6 Sheared Polymer Melts with Nucleating Agents 26610.7 Sheared Polymer Melts with Nanoparticles 27110.8 3D Printing Using Extrusion 27210.8.1 In-Situ Studies of Polymer Crystallization During 3D Printing 27310.9 Morphology Mapping 27510.10 Discussion 276Acknowledgments 277References 27711 Molecular Simulations of Polymer Crystallization 283Yijing Nie and Jianlong Wen11.1 Introduction 28311.2 Establishment of Polymer Simulation Systems 28311.2.1 MC Simulations 28411.2.2 MD Simulations 28411.2.2.1 United Atom Chain Model 28511.2.2.2 Coarse-Grained Polymer Model 28511.3 Polymer Crystallization at Quiescent State 28511.3.1 Crystal Nucleation 28511.3.2 Intramolecular Nucleation Model 28711.4 Nanofiller-Induced Polymer Crystallization 28811.4.1 Nanofiller-Induced Homopolymer Crystallization 28811.4.2 Nanofiller-Induced Copolymer Crystallization 29111.4.2.1 Nanofiller-Induced Block Copolymer Crystallization 29111.4.2.2 Random Copolymer Nanocomposite Crystallization 29311.4.3 Crystallization of Polymers Grafted on Nanofillers 29311.5 Effect of Grafting Density 29311.6 Effect of Chain Length 29311.7 Effect of Interfacial Interactions 29511.8 Stereocomplex Crystallization of Polymer Blends 29511.8.1 Simulation Details 29611.8.2 Effects of Different Methods 29711.8.2.1 Effect of Chain Length 29711.8.2.2 Effect of Stretching 29811.8.2.3 Effect of Nanofillers 29811.8.2.4 Effect of Chain Topology 29911.8.2.5 Effect of Chain Structure 30011.9 Flow-Induced Polymer Crystallization 30111.9.1 Flow-Induced Polymer Nucleation 30111.9.2 Stretch-Induced Crystalline Structure Changes 30611.10 Summary 308References 30912 Application, Recycling, Environmental and Safety Issues, and Future Prospects of Crystalline Polymer Composites 323Busra Cetiner, Havva Baskan-Bayrak, and Burcu S. Okan12.1 Introduction 32312.2 Crystalline Polymers and Composites 32412.2.1 Crystalline Polymers 32412.2.2 Crystalline Polymer Composites 32612.2.2.1 Crystalline Polymer Composites with Organic Reinforcements 32812.2.2.2 Crystalline Polymer Composites with Inorganic Reinforcements 32912.2.2.3 Crystalline Polymer Composites with Natural Reinforcements 33012.3 Applications of Crystalline Polymer Composites 33112.3.1 Automotive Applications of Crystalline Polymer Composites 33112.3.2 Biomedical Applications of Crystalline Polymer Composites 33412.3.3 Defense and Aerospace Applications of Crystalline Polymer Composites 33512.3.4 Other Applications of Crystalline Polymer Composites 33912.4 Recycling, Environmental, and Safety Issues of Crystalline Polymer Composites 34012.4.1 Recycling of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Crystalline Polymer Composites 34012.4.2 Recycling of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Crystalline Polymer Composites 34112.4.3 Recycling of Carbon Nanotubes-Reinforced Crystalline Polymer Composites 34212.4.4 Recycling of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Crystalline Polymer Composites 34312.4.5 Environmental Impact and Safety Issues of Crystalline Polymer Composites 34312.5 Future Prospects of Crystalline Polymer Composites 34412.6 Conclusions 345References 345Index 359