Crystallization Mechanisms of Poly(vinylidene Fluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene): Nucleation Transitions, Growth...

The crystallization kinetics of FK-800, a commercial semicrystalline copolymer of chlorotrifluoroethylene and vinylidene fluoride (poly-(CTFE-co-VDF)), dictate its microstructure and functional performance. Crystallization occurs between the glass transition (T _g ≈ 31 °C) and melting point (T _m ≈ 110 °C), with grain boundaries playing a key role in applications such as memristors, where they regulate filament growth. This study integrates in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM), grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to characterize nucleation, growth, and morphology across the full crystallization window. Hot-stage AFM reveals a transition from homogeneous to heterogeneous nucleation near 45 °C and a shift from reaction-limited to diffusion-limited growth above 60 °C. Kinetics are analyzed using Lauritzen-Hoffman, Turnbull-Fisher, and Avrami models to extract surface free energies and activation barriers. A multiscale modeling framework is developed in which nucleation densities and growth rates measured by AFM are used to reconstruct Avrami kinetics, which are then validated against coverage data, and extrapolated to predict bulk crystallization behavior observed by DSC. GIWAXS confirms a primarily flat-on chain orientation at all temperatures, linking orientation to domain morphology. This integrative approach quantitatively connects nanoscale crystallization dynamics with macroscopic phase evolution, establishing a quantitative framework for modeling crystallization across time, temperature, and length scales.