Hua Lei, Wang Xiaodong
Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, TongJi Zhejiang College, Jiaxing 314051, China.
Jiaxing Key Laboratory of High-Performance and Functional Materials in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tongji Zhejiang College, Jiaxing 314051, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2022 Nov 13;14(22):4902. doi: 10.3390/polym14224902.
New biodegradable aliphatic PLLA-PBA-PLLA copolymers with soft poly(butylene adipate) (PBA) and hard poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) building blocks were synthesized via ring-opening polymerization (ROP). Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (HNMR) was utilized to confirm the volume fraction of PBA (f) within PLLA-PBA-PLLA. It was found that a PBA midblock (PBA-mid) within PLLA-PBA-PLLA-s (PLLA-PBA-PLLA triblock copolymer with a short PLLA block length) might display lamellar domain structure. However, PBA-mid within PLLA-PBA-PLLA-l (PLLA-PBA-PLLA triblock copolymer with a long PLLA block length) might locate itself as a nanoscale cylindrical domain surrounded by a PLLA continuous phase. Polymorphic crystals of PBA-mid within the PLLA-PBA-PLLA copolymers were formed after melt crystallization at the given temperatures, which were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) analysis. According to the WAXD and DSC analyses, it was interesting to find that the α-type crystal of PBA-mid was favorable to develop in the lower temperature region regardless of the state (crystallization or amorphous) of the PLLA component. Additionally, when the PLLA component was held in its amorphous state, it was easier for PBA-mid within the PLLA-PBA-PLLA copolymers to transform from the metastable β-form crystal to the stable α-form crystal. Furthermore, polarized optical microscopy (POM) photos provided direct evidence of the polymorphic crystals of PBA-mid within PLLA-PBA-PLLAs.
通过开环聚合(ROP)合成了具有软质聚(己二酸丁二醇酯)(PBA)和硬质聚(L-丙交酯)(PLLA)结构单元的新型可生物降解脂肪族PLLA-PBA-PLLA共聚物。利用质子核磁共振(HNMR)来确定PLLA-PBA-PLLA中PBA的体积分数(f)。研究发现,PLLA-PBA-PLLA-s(PLLA嵌段长度较短的PLLA-PBA-PLLA三嵌段共聚物)中的PBA中间嵌段(PBA-mid)可能呈现层状畴结构。然而,PLLA-PBA-PLLA-l(PLLA嵌段长度较长的PLLA-PBA-PLLA三嵌段共聚物)中的PBA-mid可能以纳米级圆柱状畴的形式存在,周围是PLLA连续相。在给定温度下熔融结晶后,PLLA-PBA-PLLA共聚物中的PBA-mid形成了多晶型晶体,通过差示扫描量热法(DSC)和广角X射线衍射(WAXD)分析对其进行了研究。根据WAXD和DSC分析,有趣的是发现无论PLLA组分的状态(结晶或非晶)如何,PBA-mid的α型晶体在较低温度区域更易于形成。此外,当PLLA组分保持在非晶态时,PLLA-PBA-PLLA共聚物中的PBA-mid更容易从亚稳的β型晶体转变为稳定的α型晶体。此外,偏光显微镜(POM)照片提供了PLLA-PBA-PLLAs中PBA-mid多晶型晶体的直接证据。