The crystal nucleation and overall crystallization kinetics of cross-linked poly(ε-caprolactone) was studied experimentally by fast scanning calorimetry in a wide temperature range. With an increasing degree of cross-linking, both the nucleation and crystallization half-times increase. Concurrently, the glass transition range shifts to higher temperatures. In contrast, the temperatures of the maximum nucleation and the overall crystallization rates remain the same independent of the

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... ee of cross-linking. The cold crystallization peak temperature generally increases as a function of heating rate, reaching an asymptotic value near the temperature of the maximum growth rate. A theoretical interpretation of these results is given in terms of classical nucleation theory. In addition, it is shown that the average distance between the nearest cross-links is smaller than the estimated lamellae thickness, which indicates the inclusion of cross-links in the crystalline phase of the polymer.