Determination of structural and dynamic characteristics of biodegradable polymers by the NMR relaxation method

A theory of the NMR spectra of heterogeneous polymer systems is proposed that makes it possible to simulate signals observed over a wide temperature range with account of spectral diffusion. Based on this theory, a technique of rapid analysis of molecular structure parameters, including the degree of crystallinity and NMR line shape, is developed. The degree of crystallinity is demonstrated to be a linear function of the area under the NMR spectrum. It is shown that this dependence, universal for a given substance, makes it possible to reliably determine the degree of crystallinity over a wide temperature range (or the fraction of low-molecular additives in composites). The NMR spectra of chitosan is simulated and compared to experimental data. The universal dependence of the degree of crystallinity on the area under the spectrum of chitosan is calculated. A comparison with experimental signals allowed determining the degree of crystallinity.