Replicated Banded Spherulite: Microscopic Lamellar-assembly of Poly(L-lactic acid) Crystals in the Poly(oxymethylene) Crystal Framework

The morphologies of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) spherulites, when crystallized within the pre-existed poly(oxymethylene) (POM) crystal frameworks, have been investigated. PLLA/POM blend is a melt-miscible crystalline/crystalline blend system. Owing to the lower melting point but much faster crystalli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chinese journal of polymer science 2018-03, Vol.36 (3), p.385-390
Main Authors: Ye, Li-Jun, Shen, Jie-Qing, Xie, Kang-Yuan, Li, Zhi-Xiang, Li, Yong-Jin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assembly
Birefringence
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Cooling rate
Crystal structure
Crystallinity
Crystallization
Crystals
Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
Lamellar structure
Morphology
Polarized light
Polylactic acid
Polymer blends
Polymer Sciences
Polymers
Spherulites
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Summary:The morphologies of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) spherulites, when crystallized within the pre-existed poly(oxymethylene) (POM) crystal frameworks, have been investigated. PLLA/POM blend is a melt-miscible crystalline/crystalline blend system. Owing to the lower melting point but much faster crystallization rate than PLLA, POM crystallized first upon cooling from the melt state and then melted first during the subsequent heating process in this blend system. Lamellar assembly of PLLA crystals within the pre-existed POM spherulitic frameworks was directly observed with the polarized light microscopy by selectively melting the POM frameworks. The investigation indicated that PLLA crystals fully replicated the spherulitic morphology and optical birefringence of the POM crystal frameworks, which was independent of Tc. On the other hand, POM could also duplicate the pre-existed PLLA morphologies. The result obtained provides us a possibility to design the lamellar assembly and crystal structures of polymer crystals in miscible crystalline/crystalline polymer blends.
ISSN:0256-7679
1439-6203
DOI:10.1007/s10118-018-2085-z