Crystallization behavior of biodegradable poly(ethylene adipate) modulated by a benign nucleating agent: Zinc phenylphosphonate

Abstract

Zinc phenylphosphonate (PPZn), a benign and biocompatible nucleating agent, was prepared and incorporated into the biodegradable poly(ethylene adipate) (PEA) to investigate its effect on the crystallization behavior, crystallization kinetics and spherulite morphology of PEA. Upon addition of PPZn, the crystallization temperature and crystallinity of PEA in the non-isothermal crystallization process increased significantly. Analysis of crystallization kinetics by Avrami equation suggests that the crystallization time shortened greatly and crystallization rate increased markedly after addition of PPZn. In the presence of PPZn, the spherulite size decreased and spherulite density increased significantly. It suggests that PPZn is an efficient nucleating agent for the crystallization of PEA. The accelerated crystallization in the presence of PPZn is mainly attributed to the epitaxial nucleation of PEA crystals on the surface of PPZn crystals, that is, a perfect lattice matching between PEA crystal and PPZn crystal occurs.