Kinetic analysis of the nucleation-driven processes in condensed phase using the Turnbull-Fisher model

This study introduces a novel methodology for the kinetic analysis of the nucleation-driven processes using the Turnbull-Fisher model. The approach comprises two stages: first, the transformation rate is factorized to determine the conversion function and rate constant. This stage enables direct estimation of the Šesták-Berggren exponent and is applicable to both isothermal and nonisothermal data. The second stage utilizes the derived rate constant to determine the Turnbull-Fisher parameters, performing optimally with nonisothermal data. The accuracy of proposed approach was validated using simulated processes and further demonstrated through an experimental case study involving the melt crystallization kinetics of poly(butylene succinate), as well as the glass and melt crystallization kinetics of poly(butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate). A key advantage of the new approach is its exclusive use of multiple linear regression, ensuring unique solutions at the global sum of squared errors without initial estimates or trial-and-error procedures. Accompanying GNU Octave/MATLAB codes are provided to facilitate broader application of the proposed methodology.