The effect of metal-ligand coordination on crystallization and melting behaviors of polymers has not been comprehensively investigated. In this study, a series of supramolecular poly( l -lactic acid)s (SM-PLLAs) were prepared by changing various metal ions , length of polymer chains and stoichiometric ratio of ligands to metal ions (L/M). The complexation of metal ions with ligands in SM-PLLAs was confirmed by the intrinsic viscosity and UV–visible spectroscopy. It was found that crystallization rate and crystallinity of SM-PLLAs were strongly dependent on the chain length of precursor in both non-isothermal and isothermal crystallizations. With chain length of 1.6 kg/mol, crystallization of PLLA was completely suppressed regardless of the metal ions, whereas PLLA with longer chain length of 3.0 kg/mol exhibited strong dependence of the type of metal. During the heating process, melting behaviors can be tuned by the strength of metal-ligand coordination, temperature and the degree of complexation. Unlike PLLA precursor and SM-PLLA coordinated with Cu 2+ exhibited multiple melting behaviors, only a single melting peak was appeared in PLLA bonded with Co 2+ , indicative of suppression of recrystallization during heating. With ratio of ligand to Co 2+ increased from 1:1 to 6:1, crystallization and melting behaviors were tuned by the content of free and bounded PLLA chains. As compared to Cu 2+ , SM-PLLA coordinated with Co 2+ exhibited higher complex modulus and viscosity due to the high bond strength , as well as a more stable structure underwent heating and shear, making diffusion of polymer chains and the structural adjustment more difficult. This work may shed light on understanding the intricate interplay of metal-ligand coordination effects on the crystallization and melting behaviors of polymers, which may be helpful with the design and making out the relationship between structure and properties of supramolecular polymers .
Xuefei Leng,Zhiyong Wei,Yufei Bian,Yingying Ren,Yurong Wang,Qinyi Wang,Yang Li
Three series of narrowly dispersed comb-like graft poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) with controlled graft length and graft density have been facilely synthesized and characterized. The structural information was determined by means of 1H NMR, GPC, and viscometry, demonstrating the well-defined grafted structure. The effects of grafting parameters on rheological properties, thermal and crystallization behaviors were investigated systematically to illustrate the structure–property relationships. By the analysis of the rheological behavior, the increase of graft length and graft density can both lead to an elevated value of zero-viscosity (η0), enhanced complex modulus (G*) and increased complex viscosity (η*). Comparatively, graft density contributes more to the improvement of rheological properties than graft length does. For thermal properties, DSC results show that the glass transition temperature (Tg), the melting temperature (Tm) and the crystallization enthalpy (ΔHm) of graft PLLA increase with the chain length and decrease with the graft density. Furthermore, spherulite morphologies and growth rates were studied by polarized microscopy (POM), and the observation revealed a remarkable improvement of radius growth rate of the spherulites (G) when graft density increased. The results indicate that G depends more on the molecular weight of each arm (Mn,arm) than the total Mn.
Xinyu Li,Denghui Ren,Shencheng Fan,Zibo Lin,Fanyu Meng,Haisheng Wu,Fang Lai,Jing Li
The utilization of spent cathode carbon blocks (SCCB) from aluminum electrolysis has become challenging due to their content of highly toxic cyanides and environmentally harmful fluorides. To achieve reliable recovery and utilization of hazardous waste , targeted research has been conducted on the treatment of waste cathode carbon blocks and their potential application in asphalt pavement . Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) is employed to remove cyanides from the waste cathode carbon blocks, meeting the construction requirements for transportation areas. Anhydrous calcium chloride is used as a calcium source to precipitate soluble fluorides in the solution. Finally, the waste cathode carbon blocks are gel-crosslinked using polyvinyl alcohol-polyvinyl pyrrolidone, addressing the release of fluorides beyond environmental tolerance. This results in the synthesis of a composite material consisting of calcium fluoride deposits and gel-encapsulated waste cathode carbon blocks (PSB), which exhibits good thermal stability in the temperature range of 0–217 °C. Through DSR and MSCR testing, it has been demonstrated that the gel-crosslinked waste cathode carbon block composite material improves the asphalt's sensitivity to temperature and enhances its resistance to rutting at high temperatures. The 1% PSB/SBS modified asphalt shows the best performance, compared to SBS, the complex modulus (G*) of the modified asphalt increased by 117.4% at 46 °C, and the recovery indices for creep at 64 °C improved by 39.28% (at 0.1 kPa) and 55.65% (at 3.2 kPa), and thermal gravimetric analysis of the asphalt confirms that the addition of PSB improves the asphalt's thermal stability. Fluorescence microscopy analysis reveals that the inclusion of PSB does not affect the morphological development of SBS swelling and plays a stabilizing and supporting role in the asphalt mixture .