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Investigation reveals that higher molecular weight PLA enhances reactivity and rheological properties with implications for crystallization.
This study investigates the effect of polylactide (PLA) molecular weight on the reactivity of multifunctional epoxy-based chain extender, Joncryl. PLA samples with low (L-PLA), medium (M-PLA), and high (H-PLA) molecular weights, each with D-lactic acid contents below 1.5 mol%, were melt-processed with 0.5 and 1.0 wt% Joncryl ADR 4468. The melt rheological behavior, molecular weight, and crystallization kinetics of the processed samples were evaluated using a rheometer, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. Small-amplitude oscillatory shear rheology and GPC analyses showed that Joncryl reactions with higher molecular weight PLA resulted in more dramatic enhancements. This enhanced long-chain branching in turn provided stronger improvements to the melt rheological properties and to final molecular weight. Non-isothermal DSC analysis demonstrated that Joncryl modification suppressed crystallization more noticeably in high-molecular weight PLAs. Isothermal DSC analysis further revealed that long-chain branching nearly doubled the crystallization time while significantly reducing the final crystallinity.
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Akdevelioğlu et al. (2026) studied this question.
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