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Thermal properties and crystallinity of PCL/PBSA/cellulose nanocrystals grafted with PCL chains
Author(s) -
Simão José Alexandre,
Bellani Caroline Faria,
Branciforti Marcia Cristina
Publication year - 2017
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/app.44493
Subject(s) - crystallinity , materials science , thermal stability , polymer , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , chemical engineering , grafting , caprolactone , casting , polymer blend , polycaprolactone , composite material , polymer chemistry , polymerization , copolymer , engineering
Bionanocomposite films of poly(ɛ‐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. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44493.