Citation: Li-Jun Ye, Jie-Qing Shen, Kang-Yuan Xie, Zhi-Xiang Li, Yong-Jin Li. Replicated Banded Spherulite: Microscopic Lamellar-assembly of Poly(L-lactic acid) Crystals in the Poly(oxymethylene) Crystal Framework[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, ;2018, 36(3): 385-390. doi: 10.1007/s10118-018-2085-z shu

Replicated Banded Spherulite: Microscopic Lamellar-assembly of Poly(L-lactic acid) Crystals in the Poly(oxymethylene) Crystal Framework

College of Material, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China

Corresponding author: Yong-Jin Li, yongjin-li@hznu.edu.cn
Received Date: 26 September 2017
Accepted Date: 2 November 2017
Available Online: 4 December 2017

The morphologies of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) spherulites, when crystallized within the pre-existed poly(oxymethylene) (POM) crystal frameworks, have been investigated. PLLA/POM blend is a melt-miscible crystalline/crystalline blend system. Owing to the lower melting point but much faster crystallization rate than PLLA, POM crystallized first upon cooling from the melt state and then melted first during the subsequent heating process in this blend system. Lamellar assembly of PLLA crystals within the pre-existed POM spherulitic frameworks was directly observed with the polarized light microscopy by selectively melting the POM frameworks. The investigation indicated that PLLA crystals fully replicated the spherulitic morphology and optical birefringence of the POM crystal frameworks, which was independent of T_c. On the other hand, POM could also duplicate the pre-existed PLLA morphologies. The result obtained provides us a possibility to design the lamellar assembly and crystal structures of polymer crystals in miscible crystalline/crystalline polymer blends.
- Banded spherulite,
- Lamellar assembly,
- Confinement,
- Poly(L-lactic acid),
- Poly(oxymethylene)
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