Crystallization and melting behavior of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate)-based blends

Blends of high molecular weight poly(R-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) ((M) over bar (w) = 352 000 g . mol(- 1)), comprising of either low molecular weight poly(R-3-hydroxybutyrate) (D-PHB) ((M) over bar (w) = 3 900 g . mol(-1)) or poly[(R-3-hydroxybutyrate)-co-(R-3-hydroxyvalerate)] (PHBV) ((M) over bar (w) = 238 000 g mol(-1)) with 12 mol-% hydroxyvalerate (HV) content as a second constituent, were investigated along with the thermal properties and morphologies. After isothermal crystallization, a lowering of the melting temperature of PUB can be observed with increasing content of the second component in the blends. This behavior points towards miscibility of the constituents both in the liquid and the solid state. Crystallization kinetics was studied under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. The overall kinetics of isothermal crystallization was analyzed in terms of the Avrami equation. Only one crystallization peak is observed in all cases for the PHB/D-PHB and PHB/PHBV blends under the conditions studied. This demonstrates co-crystallization of the constituents. The addition of D-PHB or PHBV to PHB reduces the rate of crystallization of the blends compared to that of neat PHB. The corresponding activation energies of crystallization also decrease with an increasing concentration of the second constituent. Non-isothermal crystallization, carried out with different cooling rates held constant, is discussed in terms of a quasi-isothermal approach. The corresponding rate constants as functions of reciprocal undercooling show Arrhenius-like behavior in a certain range of temperatures. At sufficiently high undercooling, the rate constants of crystallization for the isothermal process exceed those reflecting non-isothermal conditions, whereas in the limit of low undercoolings, the rate constants become similar. Ringbanded morphologies are observed when PHB is in excess. When the respective second component is the major component, fibrous textures of the spherulites develop.