Enhancement of Crystallization Behaviors in Quaternary Composites Containing Biodegradable Polymer by Supramolecular Inclusion Complex

Li-Ting Lee,Chih-Feng Huang,Sheng-Ping He

doi:10.3390/cryst10121137

Li-Ting Lee, Chih-Feng Huang + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst10121137

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Journal: Crystals	Publication Date: Dec 12, 2020
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Feng Chia University, National Chung Hsing University

Abstract

Novel multi-component composites composed of the biodegradable polymer poly(ethylene adipate) (PEA), the water-soluble polymer poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), and a supramolecular-like inclusion complex (IC) made by α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) (coded as PCL–CD–IC) are discussed in this work. The PCL–CD–IC was used to increase the crystallization rate of the miscible PEA/PEO/PVAc ternary blend that crystalized slower than neat PEA. Higher resolution SEM and TEM images displayed that PCL–CD–IC did not assemble notably in the quaternary composites. For the results of isothermal crystallization, the analysis of the Avrami equation demonstrated that the rate constant k increased with the addition of PCL–CD–IC in the composites, suggesting that PCL–CD–IC provided more nucleation sites to promote the crystallization rate. The nucleation density increased with the addition of PCL–CD–IC, and the amount of spherulite also increased. Wide angle X-ray results showed that the composites displayed similar diffraction patterns to neat PEA, meaning PEO, PVAc, and PCL–CD–IC would not change the crystal structures of PEA in the composites. The PCL–CD–IC, the supramolecular nucleation agent, demonstrated its superior ability to enhance the multi-component composites of biodegradable polymer in this study.

Highlights

Biodegradable polymers can be biodegraded to form simpler compounds and redistributed through elemental cycles such as carbon and nitrogen [1,2,3,4,5,6]
This result indicates that the CD–inclusion complex (IC), the melting transition of PCL was diminished
This result indicates that the crystallization of crystallization of PCL was affected because of the formation of inclusion complexes between PCL and PCL was affected because of the formation of inclusion complexes between PCL and α-CD

Summary

Introduction

Biodegradable polymers can be biodegraded to form simpler compounds and redistributed through elemental cycles such as carbon and nitrogen [1,2,3,4,5,6]. They are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than traditional plastics. The crystalline properties of PEA can be enhanced by blending it with several nucleation agents [7,8]. It has been reported that graphene oxide (GO), as a nucleation agent, has good dispersion in a PEA/GO composite. Graphene oxide enhanced the nucleation density of PEA and improved its spherulite growth rate [7]. Tang et al [8]

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