Physical aging and the glass transition
dynamics of semicrystalline
poly(lactic acid) (PLA), designed for three-dimensional (3D)-printing
applications, are investigated by fast scanning calorimetry for identifying
the effect of crystallinity on the relaxation behavior of the amorphous
phase. PLA was crystallized by annealing the isotropic melt at 363
K for different times between 100 and 1000 s, yielding a two-phase
structure composed of a single amorphous phase and up to 40% crystals.
Then, these samples were physically aged at temperatures between 270
and 310 K, that is, at temperatures about 60 to 20 K lower than the
glass transition temperature T
g, respectively.
The presence of crystals slows down the relaxation rate of the amorphous
glass at temperatures slightly lower than T
g, indicating a confinement effect. In agreement with this observation,
the Vogel temperature of the amorphous phase increases by almost 10
K, when the crystallinity is increased from 0 to 40%. For semicrystalline
PLA, the glass transition dynamics is different after cooling the
system faster or slower than about 100 K/s, being in line with the
former observation of nonisothermal secondary crystallization and
possible formation of a rigid amorphous fraction on slow cooling.