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Enhancing the Crystallization Performance of Poly(L-lactide) by Intramolecular Hybridizing with Tunable Self-assembly-type Oxalamide Segments

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Abstract

In this work, hydroxyl-terminated oxalamide compounds N1,N2-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)oxalamide (OXA1) and N1, N1′-(ethane-1,2-diyl)bis(N2-(2-hydroxyethyl)oxalamide (OXA2) were synthesized to initiate the ring-opening polymerization of L-lactide for preparation of oxalamide-hybridized poly(L-lactide) (PLAOXA), i.e., PLAOXA1 and PLAOXA2. The crystallization properties of PLA were improved by the self-assembly of the oxalamide segments in PLAOXA which served as the initial heterogeneous nuclei. The crystal growth kinetics was studied by Hoffman-Lauritzen theory and it revealed that the nucleation energy barrier of PLAOXA1 and PLAOXA2 was lower than that of PLA. Consequently, PLAOXA could crystallize much faster than PLA, accompanied with a decrease in spherulite size and half-life crystallization time by 74.8% and 86.5% (T = 125 °C), respectively. In addition, the final crystallinity of PLAOXA1 and PLAOXA2 was 6 and 8 times higher, respectively, in comparison with that of neat PLA under a controlled cooling rate of 10 °C/min. The results demonstrate that the hybridization of oxalamide segments in PLA backbone will serve as the self-heteronucleation for promoting the crystallization rate. The higher the content of oxalamide segments (PLAOXA2 compared with PLAOXA1) is, the stronger the promotion effect will be. Therefore, this study may provide a universal approach by hybridizing macromolecular structure to facilitate the crystallization of semi-crystalline polymer materials.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51873082), the MOE & SAFEA 111 Project (No. B13025), the Opening Project of Beijing Key Laboratory of Quality Evaluation Technology for Hygiene and Safety of Plastics (Beijing Technology and Business University) (No. QETHSP2019003), and the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangnan University (No. JNKY19_020).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Man-Man Yu, Wei-Jun Yang, De-Yu Niu, Xiao-Xia Cai, Wei-Fu Dong, Ming-Qing Chen, Peng-Wu Xu, Yang Wang, Hong Chu & Pi-Ming Ma

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Quality Evaluation Technology for Hygiene and Safety of Plastics, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, China

    Yun-Xuan Weng

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  1. Man-Man Yu
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Correspondence to Yun-Xuan Weng or Pi-Ming Ma.

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10118_2020_2461_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Enhancing the Crystallization Performance of Poly(L-lactide) by Intramolecular Hybridizing with Tunable Self-assembly-type Oxalamide Segments

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Yu, MM., Yang, WJ., Niu, DY. et al. Enhancing the Crystallization Performance of Poly(L-lactide) by Intramolecular Hybridizing with Tunable Self-assembly-type Oxalamide Segments. Chin J Polym Sci 39, 122–132 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-020-2461-3

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