Nonisothermal Crystallization of Poly(l‐lactic Acid) Promoted by Polyols

AbstractThe inherent weak crystallization capacity has an impact on the processability and serviceability of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and limits its application. D‐mannitol (DM) and xylitol (Xy), acting as a nucleation accelerant, were melt‐blended with poly(L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) and the nonisothermal crystallization behavior was investigated. At 1% dosage, the crystallization temperatures of polyol‐modified PLLAs are 10–15°C higher than those of neat PLLA in the cooling rate range of 5–20°C. The theoretical half‐time of crystallization (t1/2) of the Jeziorny model remains constant over the cooling rate range of 10–20°C min−1, in contrast to the greatly reduced t1/2 reported for heterogeneous nucleating agents. Xy is more effective than DM in promoting crystallization. It increases the crystallinity of PLLA to ~40% within the 1%–5% dosage; and the activation energy of nonisothermal crystallization calculated by the Friendman method follows the order of magnitude: neat PLLA ˃ PLLA/DM ˃ PLLA/Xy. Polyols promote the crystallization of PLLA by a mechanism different from heterogeneous nucleation, providing an efficient and biosafety approach to improve the performance of PLA.