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Comparative study on the effects of incorporating poly(d,l-lactide) and solvent on stereocomplex crystallization and homocrystallization in unconstrained and constrained poly(l-lactide)/poly(d-lactide) systems

Polymer Journal volume 55, pages 75–84 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

The effects of incorporating poly(d,l-lactide) (PDLLA) and solvent on the stereocomplex (SC) crystallization and homocrystallization of poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) and poly(d-lactide) (PDLA) chains were explored using linear one-armed PLLA (1-L)/PDLA (1-D) and linear one-armed PDLLA (1-DL) as an unconstrained system and using branched four-armed PLLA-b-PDLA (4-L-D) and linear one-armed 1-DL as a constrained system. In the unconstrained 1-L/1-D/1-DL blends, both SC crystallites and homocrystallites formed in the absence of PDLLA or solvent, whereas only SC crystallites formed in the presence of PDLLA (75 and 50 wt.% at crystallization temperatures of 100 and 140 °C, respectively) or solvent. The SC crystallinity and total crystallinity increased, and the homocrystallinity decreased due to the presence of PDLLA and solvent. In the constrained 4-L-D/1-DL blends, SC crystallites formed without homocrystallites, even in the absence of PDLLA and solvent. SC crystallinity slightly increased due to the presence of PDLLA; however, the presence of both PDLLA and solvent somewhat decreased the SC crystallinity. In summary, the dilution effects of PDLLA and solvent enhanced SC crystallization and suppressed homocrystallization, with the exception of the constrained 4-L-D/1-DL blends in the presence of both PDLLA and solvent.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Number 16K05912) and the research grant from The Hibi Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Tempaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi, 441-8580, Japan

    Hideto Tsuji, Sena Nogata, Narumi Tsukamoto & Yuki Arakawa

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HT: Conceptualization, methodology, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition, validation, formal analysis, data curation, visualization, original draft preparation, reviewing and editing. SN: Resources, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, reviewing and editing. NT: Resources, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, reviewing and editing. YA: Investigation, formal analysis, data curation, reviewing and editing, supervision (resources and investigation).

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Correspondence to Hideto Tsuji.

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Tsuji, H., Nogata, S., Tsukamoto, N. et al. Comparative study on the effects of incorporating poly(d,l-lactide) and solvent on stereocomplex crystallization and homocrystallization in unconstrained and constrained poly(l-lactide)/poly(d-lactide) systems. Polym J 55, 75–84 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-022-00701-4

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