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Nucleating effect of boron nitride nanotubes on poly(lactic acid) crystallization

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Abstract

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a well-known biodegradable and biocompatible polymer. However, its poor crystallization ability restricts its broad applications. In this work, PLA/boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) nanocomposites were prepared by melt mixing. From either the melt or the glassy state, the effect of BNNTs on the nonisothermal and isothermal crystallization behavior of PLA was investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as well as polarized optical microscopy (POM). It was found that a small amount (0.25 wt%) of BNNTs could enhance both nonisothermal melt and cold crystallization of PLA remarkably. The Avrami equation was employed to analyze the calorimetric characterization of the isothermal crystallization behavior. It was found that the Avrami exponent of PLA crystallization was almost not changed in the presence of BNNTs, suggesting that both the melt and cold crystallization mechanism is unchanged with the addition of BNNTs. This investigation reveals that BNNTs are effective nucleator of PLA in substituting for carbon nanotubes (CNTs), when colorless products are demanded.

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Funding

This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52073261).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Materials Processing & Mold (Zhengzhou University), Ministry of Education, National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China

    Chenyuan Qin, Kun Chen, Ruyan Xu & Yaming Wang

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Qin, C., Chen, K., Xu, R. et al. Nucleating effect of boron nitride nanotubes on poly(lactic acid) crystallization. Colloid Polym Sci 300, 775–784 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-022-04986-y

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