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Immiscible Poly( L ‐lactide)/Poly( ε ‐caprolactone) Blends: Influence of the Addition of a Poly( L ‐lactide)‐Poly(oxyethylene) Block Copolymer on Thermal Behavior and Morphology
Author(s) -
Maglio Giovanni,
Malinconico Mario,
Migliozzi Anna,
Groeninckx Gabriel
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.200300150
Subject(s) - copolymer , differential scanning calorimetry , materials science , polymer chemistry , scanning electron microscope , morphology (biology) , optical microscope , lactide , solubility , caprolactone , polymer blend , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , physics , genetics , engineering , thermodynamics , biology
Summary: A binary blend of poly ( L ‐lactide) (PLLA) and poly( ε ‐caprolactone) (PCL) of composition 70:30 by weight was prepared using a twin screw miniextruder and investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Ternary 70:30:2 blends were also obtained by adding either a diblock copolymer of PLLA and poly(oxyethylene) (PEO) or a triblock PLLA‐PCL‐PLLA copolymer as a third component. Optical microscopy revealed that the domain size of dispersed PCL domains is reduced by one order of magnitude in the presence of both copolymers. SEM confirmed the strong reduction in particle size upon the addition of the copolymers, with an indication of an enhanced emulsifying effect in the case of the PLLA‐PEO copolymer. These results are analyzed on the basis of solubility parameters of the blend components.Optical micrograph of M3EG2 blend melt quenched at 125 °C.