The effects of melt annealing and counterpart's molecular weight on the thermal properties and phase morphology of poly(L-lactide)-based blends

Fang Chyou Chiu*, Chin Yu Kan, Jen Chang Yang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

The thermal properties and phase morphology of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA)-based blends have been studied. Two poly(ethylene glycol)s (PEGs) with molecular weight (MW) of about 1,500 (1.5k) g/mol and 2,000,000 (2M) g/mol, respectively, wereused as counterparts. The blends were annealed at a preselected temperature of 200 °C for either 2 min or 30 min before the characterizations. Both PEGs were determined to enhance the crystallizability of PLLA. After a 2-min process of annealing, the PEG(1.5k)'s crystallization efficiency on PLLA has been noted to increase withthe increase of its content. Conversely, PEG(2M) 'scrystallization efficiency declined with the increase of its content. Extending the annealing time has evidently changed the PEGs' crystallization effect on PLLA. Moreover, the PEG(1.5k) has, to a greater extent, brought about the depression of PLLA's melting temperature by increasing its content, and this depression increased with the annealing time. The blends exhibited lower thermal stability than those of the parent components, particularly for the PEG(1.5k)-included system with a higher PEG content. Regardless of the annealing time, the PEG(1.5k)-included blends have shown homogeneous melt morphology under light microscope, whereas the PEG(2M)-included blends have displayed phaseseparated melt morphology. In addition to the composition, PEG's MW and annealing time influence the crystalline morphology of the blends. The ringed PLLA spherulites have appeared mostly in the 2-min annealed PEG(1.5k)-included blends.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1497-1510
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics
Volume47
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 08 2009

Keywords

  • Blends
  • Crystallization
  • Morphology
  • PEG
  • PLLA

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The effects of melt annealing and counterpart's molecular weight on the thermal properties and phase morphology of poly(L-lactide)-based blends'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this