Regulating the crystallizing and rheological behaviors of poly(butylene succinate) by incorporating novel macromolecular ionomers

Abstract

We designed a novel, facile, and mass‐producible strategy for regulating the crystallizing and rheological behaviors of poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) by incorporating segmented PBS urethane ionomers (PBSUI). These macromolecular ionomers contain two segments: one is an ionic enriched segment, which can spontaneously form inter‐ and intramolecular ionic aggregates in PBS to serve as physical crosslinking points to increase the crystallization rate and complex viscosity of the PBS matrix; the other one is a PBS segment, which can improve the compatibility between the PBSUI and PBS matrix. The results from differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis, and rotational rheometry suggest that the performance tunability of PBS was easily achieved by adding a very low content of PBSUI (1–5 wt %). PBS containing 3 wt % PBSUI, in which the mass ratio of ionic groups in PBSUI is 7.4%, showed the fastest overall crystallization rate at 12 times faster than PBS to finish crystallization, due to the remarkably increased nucleating efficiency. The dynamic mechanical analysis indicates that for those samples with relatively high ionic concentrations, a cluster of glass‐transition temperatures occurred that was related to an aggregation of PBSUI. The complex viscosity and storage modulus G′ of PBS/PBSUI were also increased, due to the ionic aggregates formed by PBSUI. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 45545.

Preparation of poly(butylene succinate) vitrimer with thermal shape stability via transesterification reaction

“…However, though chemical cross‐linking can significantly elevate the use temperature and melt strength of PBS, chemically cross‐linked PBS exhibits no remoldability and is difficult to recycle, which does not comply with the original intention of PBS. Ionization modification refers to a novel and effective method recently proposed to enhance the strength of polymer melt 18,19 . Introducing ionic groups into PBS will facilitate the formation of ionic interactions, which restricts the migration of molecular chains and improves the melt strength of PBS 20,21 .…”

“…Ionization modification refers to a novel and effective method recently proposed to enhance the strength of polymer melt. 18,19 Introducing ionic groups into PBS will facilitate the formation of ionic interactions, which restricts the migration of molecular chains and improves the melt strength of PBS. 20,21 However, the ionization modification of PBS requires the addition of ionic monomers in the synthesis of PBS, it is difficult to be industrially applied.…”