| Abstract: | The comonomer composition and its distribution have been investigated for poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyhexanoate) [P(3HB‐co‐3HH)], which was bacterially synthesized by Ralstonia eutropha from coconut oil as a carbon source. Using a chloroform/heptane mixed solvent, they were fractionated into several fractions with different comonomer composition. Bacterially synthesized P(3HB‐co‐3HH)s were found to have a wide compositional distribution. Using the fractions with a narrower comonomer composition distribution, the compositional dependence of thermal properties was investigated. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) melting behavior of a sample of unfractionated P(3HB‐co‐3HH) did not reflect that of fractions with similar average 3HH content. It was concluded that each of the fractions affects the thermal properties of the original unfractionated P(3HB‐co‐3HH), which should therefore be considered as polymer blends. |
