Nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate‐co‐propylene succinate)s

Abstract

Poly(butylene succinate) (PBSu) and two poly(butylene succinate‐co‐propylene succinate)s were synthesized via the direct polycondensation reaction. The copolyesters were characterized as having 7.0.and 11.5 mol % propylene succinate (PS) units, respectively, by 1H NMR. A differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and a polarized light microscope (PLM) adopted to study the nonisothermal crystallization of these polyesters at a cooling rate of 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 10 °C/min. Morphology and the isothermal growth rates of spherulites under PLM experiments were monitored and obtained by curve‐fitting. These continuous rate data were analyzed with the Lauritzen−Hoffman equation. A transition of regime II → III was found at 95.6, 84.4, and 77.3 °C for PBSu, PBPSu 95/5, and PBPSu 90/10, respectively. DSC exothermic curves show that all of the nonisothermal crystallization occurred in regime III. DSC data were analyzed using modified Avrami, Ozawa, Mo, Friedman, and Vyazovkin equations. All the results of PLM and DSC measurements indicate that incorporation of minor PS units into PBSu markedly inhibits the crystallization of the resulting polymer. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 1299–1308, 2010

Mechanisms and kinetics of thermal degradation of poly(butylene succinate‐co‐propylene succinate)s

“…To reduce the crystallinity of PBSu, PBSu‐rich aliphatic copolyesters that combine the properties of the homopolyesters—the high melting point of PBSu and the high biodegradability of PPSu—were synthesized. Hence, the synthesis, crystallization kinetics, morphology, melting behavior, and enzymatic degradation of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate‐ co ‐propylene succinate) (PBPSu) copolymers have been explored in recent years 18–22…”

“…Hence, the synthesis, crystallization kinetics, morphology, melting behavior, and enzymatic degradation of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate-co-propylene succinate) (PBPSu) copolymers have been explored in recent years. [18][19][20][21][22] Besides the biodegradability, the thermal stability and thermal degradation behavior of biodegradable polymers are important for their processing, application, and thermal recycling. Some studies have explored the thermal degradation of PESu, PPSu, and PBSu, [23][24][25][26] including their activation energies, kinetic parameters, and degradation mechanisms.…”

Monte Carlo Simulation Study of Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Polyethylene Glycol

“…Presently, many researchers investigate isothermal crystallization kinetics of polymers usually by some empirical method, such as differential scanning calorimetry [1][2][3][4][5][6] , a hot stage polarizing microscope [7][8][9][10] , or small angle X-ray scattering [11,12] . However, isothermal crystallization of polymer can be analyzed and understood by means of the results obtained by these empirical methods.…”

Nonisothermal crystallization behavior of biodegradable poly(butylene terephthalate‐co‐butylene adipate‐co‐ethylene terephthalate‐co‐ethylene adipate) copolyester

“…It is well known that the crystal structure strongly affects the properties of crystalline polymer, so it is important to investigate the kinetics of polymer crystallization during the product processing. There has been much research on the isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of biodegradable monomer‐based copolyesters or copolymers [22–29]. However, to the best of our knowledge, little attention has been paid to the nonisothermal crystallization behavior of PBATE copolyester.…”