Melt stability of 8-arms star-shaped stereocomplex polylactide with three-dimensional core structures

Abstract

The melt stability of star-shaped stereocomplex polylactide with different core structure by tripentaerythritol (TPE) and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-octahydroxypropyldimethylsilyl (POSS(OH)(8)) compounds was investigated. The three-dimensional (3D) core structures affect the ability of star-shaped stereocomplex polylactide to preserve stereocomplex crystallite after melted. The exact position and proper space distribution of arm result in low chain freedom of itself which affects the ability of each arm to reassemble stereocomplex crystallites after melted. The result confirmed that the inorganic POSS(OH)(8) core molecule has better support to maintain melt stability compare to TPE core. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.