Poly-
l
-lactic
acid (PLLA) is a prospective renewable and
degradable material, but slow crystallization limits its processing
and application. By dehydration condensation of hydroxyl-terminated
hyperbranched resin (H202) and carboxylated carbon nanotubes (CNTs),
a modified CNT, CNTs-H202, was obtained. Grafting was confirmed by
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and the grafting content
was assessed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Changes in surface
atom content were explored by X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS). Transmission
electron microscopy (TEM) observed the increase of black dots on the
surface of carbon nanotubes. PLLA/CNTs and PLLA/CNTs-H202 composites
were prepared, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used
to investigate the crystallization behavior of the composites. The
results showed that during the cooling process, PLLA/CNTs-H202 had
a larger crystalline full width at half-maximum (FWHM) compared with
PLLA/CNTs and exhibited the ability to hinder chain segment movement
during the subsequent reheating process. The crystallization activation
energy was calculated by the Kissinger method, and it was found that
the activation energy of the carbon tube increased slightly after
grafting. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) once again proved the
improvement of the crystallization ability. The results of polarized
optical microscopy (PLOM) showed that the number of crystal nuclei
increased and the crystal became smaller.
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