Isothermal crystallization of polycaprolactone/modified clay biodegradable nanocomposites

Effects of Branches on the Isothermal Crystallization of Copolymers Based on Poly(ϵ‐caprolactone)

“…For PCL n values between 2.7 and 2.8 were obtained, which correspond to a three‐dimensional heterogeneous nucleation. These results are in good agreement with already reported values for linear polyesters . On the other hand, HEMACL# copolymers show n values from 1.8 to 2.6, revealing that branched copolymers adopt a two‐dimensional crystallization growth with heterogeneous nucleation .…”

“…It has a relative low melting temperature and an appropriate glass transition temperature for technical applications. In addition, the aliphatic nature of the main chain explains its compatibility with a large variety of polymers, whereas its lack of toxicity is a strong reason to employ it as an excellent candidate in a wide range of biomedical applications such as long term implantable devices and drug delivery systems . On the other hand, poly(2‐hydryoxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) is another biocompatible polymer that has been used to produce ocular devices and soft contact lens, among other applications .…”

“…Polymer crystallization is controlled by several factors, such as molar mass, chain flexibility, and nucleating agents, among others . Isothermal crystallization models can be used to quantify the energy barriers associated with the nucleation and crystal growth, as well as crystallization arrangement . Particularly, Avrami's model has been developed based on rather empirical ideas and it is currently applied for polymer crystallization kinetics treatments …”

“…In addition, the aliphatic nature of the main chain explains its compatibility with a large variety of polymers, [8] whereas its lack of toxicity is a strong reason to employ it as an excellent candidate in a wide range of biomedical applications such as long term implantable devices and drug delivery systems. [9][10][11][12] On the other hand, poly(2-hydryoxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) is another biocompatible polymer that has been used to produce ocular devices and soft contact lens, among other applications. [13] The hydrophilicity of the hydroxyl moiety imposes to PHEMA-based hydrogels physical properties that resemble those of living tissue: high water content, soft and rubbery consistency, and low interfacial tension.…”

“…[21] Isothermal crystallization models can be used to quantify the energy barriers associated with the nucleation and crystal growth, as well as crystallization arrangement. [12,22] Particularly, Avrami's model has been developed based on rather empirical ideas and it is currently applied for polymer crystallization kinetics treatments. [23,24] Considering the above mentioned facts, and taking into account that PCL and PHEMA blocks combine interesting features in the same macromolecule, this work was focused on the study of isothermal crystallization in order to evaluate the influence of PCL branches on the isothermal crystallization process of poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate-co-(2-hydroxymethylmethacrylate-graft-e-caprolactone)-block-e-caprolactone) comb-like copo-lymers, P(HEMA-co-(HEMA-g-CL)-b-CL).…”