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Crystallization kinetics of poly( L ‐lactide‐ co ‐ meso ‐lactide)
Author(s) -
Kolstad Jeffrey J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19961114)62:7<1079::aid-app14>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - crystallization , lactide , nucleation , materials science , kinetics , copolymer , polymer chemistry , avrami equation , polymerization , talc , chemical engineering , thermodynamics , crystallization of polymers , polymer , composite material , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
The crystallization kinetics of poly( L ‐lactide‐ co‐meso ‐lactide) were determined over a range of 0% to 9% mesolactide. The kinetics were fit to the nonlinear Avrami equation and then to the Hoffman–Lauritzen equation modified for optical copolymers. The theory was found to fit the data well. The crystallization half‐time was found to increase about 40% for every 1 wt % meso ‐lactide in the polymerization mixture. The change in crystallization rate is driven mainly by the reduction in melting point for the copolymers. The copolymer crystallization kinetics were also determined in the presence of talc, a nucleating agent for polylactide. The theory again fit the data well, using the same growth parameters and accounting for the talc only through the nucleation density term. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.