Thermal properties and crystallinity of PCL/PBSA/cellulose nanocrystals grafted with PCL chains

Abstract

Bionanocomposite films of poly(E-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(butilene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA) blends with cellulose nanocrystals (CNW) grafted with PCL chains (CNW-g-PCL) were prepared by solution casting and their thermal properties and crystallinity were studied. The CNW surface was modified with PCL chains by grafting "from" approaches, in an effort to improve their compatibility with the polymer blends. The grafting efficiency was evidenced by FTIR and TGA analysis. The acicular morphology of CNW-g-PCL was characterized by SEM. The TGA results showed an increase in the thermal stability of the CNW grafted with PCL chains. The PCL/PBSA blends showed higher thermal stability in comparison with the neat polymers and PCL/PBSA/CNW-g-PCL bionanocomposites. DSC results showed the CNW-g-PCL act as a nucleating agent in the bionanocomposites. Additionally, a better interaction of the CNW-g-PCL in the blends of 30/70 composition in comparison with the blends of 50/50 composition was characterized. The results obtained for aforementioned films prepared by solution casting encourage the production of such bionanocomposites by melt compounding (extrusion), aiming the achievement of new bionanocomposites materials with improved thermal and mechanical properties.

Preparation and analysis of poly(l‐lactic acid) composites with oligo(d‐lactic acid)‐grafted cellulose

“…Recently, several chemical methods, including ring‐opening polymerization, atom transfer radical polymerization, reversible addition fragmentation chain‐transfer polymerization, nitroxide‐mediated polymerization, and single electron transfer–living radical polymerization, have been used to modify cellulose surfaces . Several kinds of polymer chains have been covalently bonded onto the cellulose surface with these methods, which have markedly changed the surface performance . PLLA can be used to graft cellulose and improve the compatibility before composite preparation.…”

Influence of Silica Size on Properties of Poly[(Butylene Succinate)‐Co‐Adipate]/Butyl‐Etherified High‐Amylose Starch Blend Composites

“…The crystallinity of the PBSA/BHAS composites was determined according to equation : where Δ H m(exp) is the heat of fusion (J g −1 ) determined by the DSC measurement, Δ H m0 is the heat of fusion of a 100% crystalline polymer and f is the weight fraction of PBSA, with no BHAS‐micro or nanosilica particles. Δ H mo for PBSA is 116.9 J g −1 …”

“…ΔH mo for PBSA is 116.9 J g À1 . [29] Compression-moulded dog-bone specimens were used for measurement of tensile properties using an Instron 5966 tester (Instron Engineering Corporation, USA) according to ASTM D638-14. The tests were carried out using a crosshead speed of 20 mm min À1 .…”

Inserting Poly(ε-caprolactone) into Wood Cell Wall Structures for Dehydration and Consolidation of Waterlogged Scots Pine Wood

“…The loss of the finer cellulose tissue does not cause much alteration in the gross volume of the wood, but the porosity is increased due to the degradation of bacterial action, and the wood absorbs water like a sponge (Babiński 2015;Cavallaro et al 2015). If the wood is exposed to air, the excess water evaporates, and the resulting surface tension forces of the evaporating water cause the weakened cell walls to collapse, creating considerable shrinkage and distortion (Simão et al 2017). Consequently, the dehydration and consolidation of waterlogged wood, the critical step during the conservation process, has been extensively studied (Pelé et al 2015).…”

“…Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is a semi-crystalline hydrophobic polyester that can be polymerized by ring opening polymerization (ROP) of ε-caprolactone(CL) monomers; it is a novel nontoxic and low viscosity liquid agent. PCL has gathered remarkable popularity in different applications such as drug delivery, food packing, and tissue engineering (Jiang et al 2016;Simão et al 2017). Using the CL in the wood conservation field is uncommon.…”