Fully Biodegradable Poly(hexamethylene succinate)/Cellulose Nanocrystals Composites with Enhanced Crystallization Rate and Mechanical Property.

Siyu Pan,Zhaobin Qiu

doi:10.3390/polym13213667

Abstract

Through a common solution and casting method, low contents of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) reinforced biodegradable poly(hexamethylene succinate) based composites were successfully prepared for the first time. CNC homogeneously dispersed in PHS matrix at low loadings, showing no obvious aggregation. PHS/CNC composites showed high thermal stability as PHS. As a heterogeneous nucleating agent, CNC promoted the crystallization of PHS under both nonisothermal and isothermal crystallization conditions. In addition, the higher the CNC content, the faster the crystallization of PHS/CNC composites. The heterogeneous nucleating agent role of CNC was directly confirmed by the crystalline morphology study; moreover, the crystal structure of PHS remained unmodified despite the presence of CNC. As a reinforcing nanofiller, CNC also improved the mechanical property of PHS, especially the Young’s modulus and yield strength. In brief, low contents of CNC may improve both the crystallization and mechanical property of PHS, providing an easy method to tune the physical property and promote the wider application of biodegradable polymers.

Highlights

Biodegradable polymers are of great importance from a sustainability viewpoint [1,2]
TGA was used in this research to measure the thermal stability of poly(hexamethylene succinate) (PHS) and PHS/cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) composites, which were heated at 20 ◦C/min under nitrogen atmosphere
TGA was used in this research to measure the thermal stability of PHS and PHS/CNC composites, which were heated at 20 °C/min under nitrogen atmosphere

Summary

Introduction

Biodegradable polymers are of great importance from a sustainability viewpoint [1,2]. In order to improve the mechanical property and accelerate the crystallization of PHS, PHS/CNC composites with low contents of CNC were prepared in this work through a solution and casting method. The dispersion of CNC in PHS matrix was investigated first; the influence of CNC on the thermal stability, crystallization behavior, and mechanical property of PHS/CNC composites was studied in detail. The results revealed that CNC promoted the crystallization and improved the mechanical property of PHS, providing a convenient method to improve the physical property and promote the practical application of fully biodegradable polymer/CNC composites. TGA was used in this research to measure the thermal stability of PHS and PHS/CNC composites, which were heated at 20 °C/min under nitrogen atmospher8e0. Td values varied slightly between 359.7 and 363.1 °C, demonstrating that PHS/CNC composit4e0s had the similar high thermal stability as PHS. The melt crystallization enthalpy varied slightly between 60.0 and 64.2 J/g for FPigHuSrea2n.dTiGtsActoramcepsoosfitPeHs;ScoanndsePqHuSe/nCtNlyC, CcoNmCposniltyess. lightly affected the crystallinity of PHS

Crystallization Behavior Study

Tensile Mechanical Property Study

Conclusions