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Enhancement in crystallization kinetics of the bacterially synthesized poly(β-hydroxybutyrate) by poly(butylene succinate)

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Abstract

Poly(β-hydroxybutyrate), PHB, is a bio-based and biodegradable material. However processing and application of the PHB are disturbed by its low crystallization rate. In this manuscript the crystallization behavior of the PHB was improved via incorporation of another biodegradable polymer, i.e. poly(butylene succinate), PBS. The two polymers show phase separation in the blends. PBS varies from a dispersed phase to a continuous phase with increasing its content from 20 to 70 wt% and a co-continuous morphology is observed at PBS 50 wt%. Although the spherulitic radial growth rate of the PHB is retarded to a certain extent by the PBS, the non-isothermal crystallization temperature is increased by around 30 °C while the half-life crystallization time is reduced significantly, indicating an increased overall crystallization rate of the PHB. The increased crystallization rate of PHB is attributed to a modified multi-nucleation mechanism, i.e. homogeneous nucleation, heterogeneous nucleation and self-enhanced nucleation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge J. Wu, C. H. R. M. Wilsens and P. A. Korevaar from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology for valuable discussions on characterization of raw materials. This work is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (JUSRP1016), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51303067) and Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20131047).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory of Food Colloids and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Piming Ma

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Piming Ma, Denka G. Hristova-Bogaerds & Piet J. Lemstra

  3. School of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Yong Zhang

  4. Dutch Polymer Institute, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Denka G. Hristova-Bogaerds

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  1. Piming Ma
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  2. Denka G. Hristova-Bogaerds
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  4. Piet J. Lemstra
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Correspondence to Piming Ma.

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Ma, P., Hristova-Bogaerds, D.G., Zhang, Y. et al. Enhancement in crystallization kinetics of the bacterially synthesized poly(β-hydroxybutyrate) by poly(butylene succinate). Polym. Bull. 71, 907–923 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-014-1101-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-014-1101-x

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