Abstract
A linear poly(ϵ‐caprolactone), PCL, and grafted copolymers based on poly(2‐hydroxyethylmethacrylate) and poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) are used to study the effect of branches on PCL crystallization process. Copolymers are synthetized by a combination of ring opening polymerization and reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, showing molar masses between 32 000 and 46 000 g mol−1 with Mw/Mn lower than 1.19. Isothermal crystallization kinetic is performed by Differential Scanning Calorimetry combining Avrami and Hoffman‐Weeks theories. Regarding to Avrami parameters, copolymers exhibited half‐life crystallization times 42 times higher than PCL homopolymer and two‐dimensional crystallization growth. Copolymers’ growing rate values are 51 times higher than PCL values according to Hoffman‐Weeks equation. These results suggest that interaction of grafted chains could hinder the rearrangement of PCL by reducing their final crystallization capacity.
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