Thermal and physical properties of poly(butylene succinate)/poly(ε-caprolactone) copolyesters prepared by transesterification

Degradable poly(butylene succinate) (PBS)/poly(epsilon -caprolactone) (PCL) copolyesters were prepared by using transesterification between poly(butylene succinate) and poly(epsilon -caprolactone). The thermal and mechanical properties of copolyesters were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry and tensile testing. Interchange reaction between PBS and PCL molecules could be identified from proton NMR spectra. The reduced viscosity of the PBS/PCL copolyesters increased with reaction time except for a series of PBS/PCL (50/50 wt%) copolyesters. For all the compositions, the melting point and crystallization temperature of high-T(m) component (PBS) decreased as reaction time increased. From the results of tensile testing, it was found that stress and strain at break of the PBS/PCL copolymers containing less than 40 wt% PCL improved as compared to those of pure PBS, but at 50 wt% PCL stress at break of PBS/PCL copolymers was lowered due to decrease of crystallinity. On the other hand, Young's moduli of all the copolyesters decreased with both reaction time and PCL. content.