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Thermal, mechanical, and morphological studies of a depolymerizable graft copolymer thermoplastic

Polymer Journal volume 55, pages 1171–1178 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Graft polymers are gaining increasing interest because of their unique architectural characteristics. We recently reported a novel type of depolymerizable graft polymer based on poly(trans-cyclobutane fused cyclooctene), in an effort to address the trade-off between depolymerizability and controlled grafting-through polymerization. In this work, we examine the thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of a graft copolymer thermoplastic material prepared by copolymerizing poly(L-lactide) and margaric acid-based macromonomers. A copolymerization kinetics study reveals that the two macromonomers are incorporated almost randomly and that the domain spacing measured from small-angle X-ray scattering is consistent with the random distribution. An investigation of the crystallization behavior suggests that proper thermal treatment is required to maximize, or to even observe crystallinity. The physical states of the soft and hard domains, whether melt, glassy, or semicrystalline, significantly impact the tensile properties of the resulting copolymer materials. Finally, the rheological properties and morphological features are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the University of Akron and the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-2042494. We thank Prof. James M. Eagan for glovebox access and Prof. Kevin Cavicchi for helpful discussion. We acknowledge access to the X-ray scattering facility at the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute (AMLCI) at Kent State University, which was financially supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR-2017845), the State of Ohio (The Ohio Department of Higher Education Action Fund), and Kent State University. We thank the Ohio Board of Regents and the National Science Foundation (CHE-0341701 and DMR-0414599) for the funds used to purchase the NMR instrument used in this work.

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  1. School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH, 44325, USA

    Zeyu Wang, Mark D. Foster & Junpeng Wang

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  1. Zeyu Wang
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Correspondence to Mark D. Foster or Junpeng Wang.

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Wang, Z., Foster, M.D. & Wang, J. Thermal, mechanical, and morphological studies of a depolymerizable graft copolymer thermoplastic. Polym J 55, 1171–1178 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-023-00826-0

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