Effects of molecular weight on the crystallization and melting behaviors of poly(L-lactide)

In this study, a series of monodispersed poly(L-lactide)(PLLA) were synthesized by the ring-opening polymerization with Schiff base aluminum catalyst, and the effects of the number-average molecular weight(Mn) on the crystallization and melting behaviors of PLLA were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction(WAXD). The total crystallization rate of PLLA was Mn-dependent, which reached the maximum value for PLLA with Mn of 18.6 kg/mol. In addition, when Mn of PLLA was 18.6 kg/mol, the melting enthalpy(ΔHm) showed a maximum value(87.1 J/g), which was the highest reported value till now. The critical temperature for change of crystal formation from ?-form to ?-form crystals increased in the isothermal crystallization process with Mn increasing. In the reheating procedure, high-Mn PLLA demonstrated a small exothermal peak prior to the dominant melting peak, corresponding to crystal transition from ?- to ?-form, but low-Mn PLLA didn't show the peak of crystal transition. These different crystallization and melting behaviors were attributed to the different chain mobility of PLLA with different Mn.     

Isothermal crystallization behavior and unique banded spherulites of hydroxyapatite/poly(L-lactide) nanocomposites

<正>Hydroxyapatite/poly(L-lactide)(HA/PLLA) nanocomposites were prepared by the solvent mixing method.The isothermal crystallization behavior was studied by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM).The results show that the crystallization behavior of HA/PLLA composites was strongly affected by the content of HA and crystallization temperature,and the addition of HA could promote nucleation and enhance the crystallization rate. When isothermal crystallization was carried out at 110℃,the HA/PLLA nanocomposite with 1%HA content crystallized most rapidly among all the composites and the half crystallization time was only 1.0 min.Banded spherulites were observed for the HA/PLLA composites,but no banded spherulites were seen in the crystals of PLLA under the same condition.     

Depolymerization behavior of thermoplastic poly(urethane) (TPU) and its dependence on initial molecular weight

The quantitative and qualitative depolymerization behavior of thermoplastic poly(urethane) (TPU) consisting of 4,4′-methylenediphenyldiisocyanate (MDI), 1,6-hexanediol (HD) and 1-hexanol (HEX) was described using temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The depolymerization behavior could be altered by lowering the starting molecular weight. This resulted not only in a higher ceiling temperature, but also in a faster decrease of the molecular weight as a function of temperature once the depolymerization has started. The increase in the ceiling temperature for low molecular weight TPUs is attributed to the lower entropy of polymerization for these compounds compared to high molecular weight TPUs.     

Miscibility and isothermal crystallization of poly(L-lactide) and poly(trimethylene carbonate) blends

Miscibility, isothermal crystallization kinetics, and morphology of poly(L-lactide)/poly(trimethylene carbonate)(PLLA/PTMC) crystalline/amorphous blends were studied by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and optical microscopy(OM). The heterogeneity of OM images and an unchanged glass transition temperature showed that PLLA was immiscible with PTMC. During isothermal crystallization, the crystallization rate of PLLA improved when the PTMC content was low(≤ 20%). However, when the PTMC content was high(≥ 30%), the crystallization rate decreased significantly. The reason of these nonlinear changes in crystal kinetics was analyzed according to the nucleation and growth process by virtue of a microscope heating stage. The isothermal crystallization morphologies of the blends were also studied by polarized optical microscopy and the results confirmed the conclusions obtained from crystallization kinetics.     

Effect of molecular weight and temperature on the isothermal crystallization of poly(oxetane)

Poly(oxetane) fractions ranging in number-average molecular weights from 7800 to 157000 have been isothermally crystallized in the temperature range from –50 to 19 C, using dilatometric and calorimetric techniques. In both cases, reproducible isotherms were obtained with an Avrami exponent equal to three. The crystallization rate against crystallization temperature presents a maximum at –30 C. The level of crystallinity changes with molecular weight and the influence of this parameter on the rate of crystallization is pronounced. The crystallization temperature coefficient was studied using nucleation theory and it was found an slight increase in the basal interfacial free energy for the lowest molecular weight fraction. For the analysis of the temperature coefficient at the higher undercoolings, different approximations for the free energy of fusion and the transport term have been considered. The conclusion of this analysis is that, independently of these approximations, the obtained temperature coefficients are the same.     

Effects of functionalized graphenes on the isothermal crystallization of poly(L-lactide) nanocomposites

The effects of graphene oxide(GO) with polar groups and functionalized GO(f GO) with nonpolar groups on the isothermal crystallization of poly(L-lactide)(PLLA) were compared. Functionalized GO was obtained by grafting octadecylamine and characterized by FTIR, WAXD and TGA. Isothermal crystallization kinetics of PLLA/GO and PLLA/f GO nanocomposites were investigated by combining DSC data and Avrami equation. The results showed that f GO could improve PLLA crystallization rate more obviously than GO. By analyzing the morphology obtained from POM, SEM and TEM, it was found f GO with large layer space dispersed better in PLLA and supplied more nucleation sites than GO. Therefore, for the multilayer graphene, increasing the layer spaces is important to improve its dispersion in polymers, which will cause the crystal kinetics changing of polymers.     

Influence of crystallization temperature,molecular weight,and additives on the crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

The spherulite growth rate, the maximum spherulite radius, and the overall rate of crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PETP) were measured by means of scattering and transmission of depolarized light. The influence of crystallization temperature, molecular weight, and additives on the above-mentioned quantities was investigated. An expression has been derived for the spherulite growth rate of PETP as a function of crystallization temperature and the number-average molecular weight for M?_n in the range of 19,000 to 39,000.     

Conformational behavior of poly(L-lactide) studied by infrared spectroscopy

This paper reports the analysis of the C=O stretching region of poly(L-lactide). This spectral band splits into up to four components, a phenomenon that a priori can be explained in terms of carbonyl-carbonyl coupling or specific interactions (such as C-H...O hydrogen bonding or dipole-dipole). Hydrogen bonding can be discarded from the analysis of the C-H stretching spectral region. In addition, low molecular weight dicarbonyl compounds of chemical structure similar to that of PLLA, such as diacyl peroxides, show a remarkable splitting of the carbonyl band attributed to intramolecular carbonyl-carbonyl coupling. Several mechanisms can be responsible for this behavior, such as mechanical coupling, electronic effects, or through-space intramolecular TDC (transition dipole coupling) interactions. Intermolecular dipole-dipole interactions (possible in the form of interchain TDC interactions) are proven to be of minor relevance taking into account the spatial structure of the PLLA conformers. The Simply Coupled Oscilator (SCO) model, which only accounts for mechanical coupling, has been found to predict adequately the relative intensity of the symmetric and asymmetric bands of dicarbonyl compounds. The dispersion curves predicted for PLLA by the SCO model also match those given by more general treatments, such as Miyazawa's first-order perturbation theory. Hence, the SCO model is adopted here as an adequate yet simple tool for the interpretation of band splitting caused by intramolecular coupling of polylactide. The four components observed in the C=O stretching band of semicrystalline PLLA are attributed to the four possible conformers: gt, gg, tt, and tg. The narrow bands observed for the interlamellar material are attributed to highly ordered chains, indicating the absence of a truly amorphous phase in the crystalline polymer. The interphase seems to extend over the whole interlamellar region, showing the features of a semiordered metastable phase. In amorphous PLLA, bands corresponding to gt, gg, and tt conformers also can be resolved by second derivative techniques, and curve-fitting results provide information about the conformational population at different temperatures.     

Non-isothermal crystallization of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) under quiescent and steady shear conditions

<正>The non-isothermal crystallization of poly(L-lactide)(PLLA) under quiescent and steady shear flow conditions was in situ investigated by using polarizing optical microscopy(POM) with a hot shear stage and wide-angle X-ray diffraction(WAXD).The shear rate and the cooling rate both play a significant role in the final crystalline morphology and crystallinity.Under quiescent conditions,the morphology assumes different sized spherulites,and its crystallinity dramatically reduces with increasing the cooling rate.On the other hand,the shear flow increases the onset crystallization temperature,and enhances the final crystallinity.When the shear rate is above 5 s~(-1),cylindrite-like crystals are observed, furthermore,their content depends on the cooling rate.     

The dependence of the glass transition temperature of poly(N-vinylcarbazole) upon steric microstructure and molecular weight

Poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) samples were found to exhibit up to three glass transition temperatures T_g, corresponding to the whole chain and the syndiotactic and isotactic stereoblocks. An increasing tendency to multiple T_gs, and hence to phase separation, was observed with increasing isotacticity. Limiting values at infinite molecular weight for syndiotactic and isotactic PVK were obtained from correlations of the T_gs corresponding to the syndiotactic and isotactic stereoblocks with their respective average stereoblock lengths derived from ¹³C NMR measurements. They were found to be 549 and 399 K, respectively. The conventional T_g for PVK was found to exhibit the following dependence upon the syndiotactic dyad mole fraction X_s: The molecular weight dependences of the conventional T_gs for several fractionated PVK samples obeyed a Fox–Flory-type relation with values of ?dT_g/d(1/M) varying between 7.6 × 10³ for isotactic PVK and 2.7 × 10⁵ for Luvican M 170.     

The effect of molecular weight on the crystallization kinetics and equilibrium melting temperature of poly(tetramethylene ether glycol)

Isothermal crystallization of poly(tetramethylene ether glycol) (PTMEG) with relatively low molecular weight (M_n = 991, 2004 and 2864, respectively) was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, and the equilibrium melting temperature (T) determined using the Hoffman–Weeks analysis. The crystallization kinetics of PTMEG were characterized using an Avrami analysis. Mechanistic n values ranged from 2.2 to 2.9 for the primary crystallization process for three molecular weight grades, indicating heterogeneous nucleation of spherulites. Polarized light microscopy confirmed that PTMEG crystallized by the growth of spherulites from heterogeneous nuclei. The half–life for crystallization (t_1/2) and the composite rate constant were found to be dependent on the degree of supercooling (ΔT) and the molecular weight. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of molecular weight on crystallization and rheological properties of poly(3,3-bis(azidomethyl)oxetane)

Various molecular weight of poly(3,3-bis(azidomethyl)oxetane) were prepared from 3,3-bis(chloromethyl) oxetane. The structure of those were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectral analysis and gel permeation chromatograph, meanwhile the properties were also compared by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and rheological analysis. The results indicated that increasing molecular weight weakened the crystallization ability of PBAMO and increased the glass transition temperature. Furthermore, the viscosity, shear stress, G′ and G″ of PBAMO increased gradually with increasing of the molecular weight.     

The tuning of crystallization behavior of ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene)

Poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] has three crystal forms, including paraelectric α, ferroelectric β, and γ phases. In previous studies, the properties and performances of P(VDF-TrFE) have been the focus of research. However, the formation mechanism and regulation mode of various crystal forms remain unclear. Therefore, it is an important topic for further research to elucidate, summarize, and prospect the polymorphism of P(VDF-TrFE) and regulate the crystal forms. This review systematically summarizes the crystalline structure and phase transition between ferroelectric and paraelectric phase of P(VDF-TrFE) crystals; discusses the influence of annealing, blending and electric field on the crystallinity, selection of polymorphic crystals, and phase transition behavior between them; reviews the effects of annealing, melt-recrystallization, substrate and nanoconfinement on the crystal orientation. Finally, the effects of the crystal structure of P(VDF-TrFE) on its properties are briefly summarized.     

Molecular analysis of the crystallization behavior of poly(aryl-ether-ether-ketone)

The crystallization behavior, via annealing, of PEEK was investigated using FTIR spectroscopy. It was found that predominantly amorphous PEEK (e.g., quenched polymer) follows two distinct mechanisms when it is annealed. One is a lower energy relaxation process that involves the partial rotation of the ether linkages, allowing the molecular chains in the disordered phase to become better packed, and occurs from 50 to 140°C (slightly below T_g). This relaxation process is also observed by dynamic mechanical analyses. The other process is a crystallization that takes place above the glass transition, with its onset characterized by the rotation of the benzophenone linkages near T_g. Isothermal crystallization kinetics data on PEEK can be described by an Avrami equation with an Avrami constant n of about 1.     

Dynamic behavior of ultrahigh molecular weight poly(methyl methacrylate) in semidilute solutions

The paper presents some rheological investigations on ultrahigh molecular weight (u.h.m.w.) (M_w > 10⁷) poly(methyl methacrylate) in semidilute solutions. The main interest was to study the viscoelastic behavior of the semidilute solutions at different concentrations and temperatures. In the 60‐600 rad/s frequency range, the experimental data show a predominantly elastic response (G′ > G″) for the long poly(methyl methacrylate) chains in toluene.     

Resorbable materials of poly(L-lactide)

Poly(L-lactide) PLLA materials with various porosity in the range of 5 to 300 Μm were produced by crystallization of the polymer in presence of low molecular weight additives from solution in good solvents, followed by the diluent extraction. For the concentration of diluent in PLLA in the range of 10 to 50 per cent by weight, the pore size increased with increasing concentration of additive, while the additive was easily extracted from the polymer. For the concentration of additive in PLLA in the range of 60 to 80 per cent by weight, the pore size increased or/and decreased with increasing concentration of the additive, while the latter was hardly extractable from the polymer. Porous, resorbable tubes or rods of various diameter well accepted by living organism were produced by this method. Tracheal prostheses, pins or porous reservoirs made from PLLA or modified porous PLLA could be some of many potential application of these materials.     

Electrospun chitosan-coated fibers of poly(L-lactide) and poly(L-lactide)/poly(ethylene glycol): preparation and characterization

Fibrous poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and bicomponent PLLA/poly(ethylene glycol) mats were prepared by electrospinning and then were coated with chitosan. The presence of chitosan coating was proved by scanning electron microscopy and by fluorescence microscopy. On contact with blood, the chitosan coating led to changes in erythrocyte shape and in their aggregation. The haemostatic activity of the mats increased with increasing chitosan content. Microbiological studies against Staphylococcus aureus revealed that the chitosan coating imparts antibacterial activity to the hybrid mats. The combined haemostatic and antibacterial activities render these novel materials suitable for wound-healing applications.     

Preparation of high molecular weight poly(vinylaniline)

For the first time, we believe, a high molecular weight soluble poly(vinylaniline) has been prepared. This was done by a bead polymerization with exclusion of oxygen. The polymer has little or no color and good stability in solution.     

The crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) fractions: Temperature dependence of growth rate

The crystallization rates of fractions of poly(ethylene oxide) have been studied micro-scopically and dilatometrically. Nucleation theory has been adapted to take account of the finite molecular weight and the molecular weight distribution of the fractions. It is found that the free energy of formation of the end interface of the nucleus is practically independent of molecular weight over the range studied (1,500–600,000).