Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is an environmentally friendly
polymer
with excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and biodegradability;
nevertheless, thermal processing is very difficult because its melting
point is close to its decomposition temperature. Herein, a synergistic
plasticizing strategy based on solid plasticizing and freeze-drying
technologies was proposed to effectively reduce the crystallinity
of pristine PVA and destroy the intrinsic inter- and intramolecular
hydrogen bonds, realizing the thermal processing of PVA. Specially,
the sorbitol plasticizers were incorporated into a PVA aqueous solution
to achieve the homogeneous mixing of the two components at the molecular
scale, weakening the intrinsic hydrogen bonding network by forming
additional hydrogen bonds with hydroxyl groups of PVA. Subsequently,
the freeze-drying process was conducted to restrict the molecular
mobility and PVA crystallization. The underlying plasticizing mechanism
was revealed based on wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD), differential
scanning calorimetry (DSC), and temperature-dependent FTIR spectra.
As a result, the modified PVA materials with a widened processing
window up to 70 °C were successfully prepared, and the rheology
behaviors were investigated comprehensively to guide the actual melt
processing.