ARS | Publication request: INTERACTIONS IN POLY(LACTIC ACID) AND POLY(HYDROXY ESTER ETHER) BLENDS STUDIED BY FTIR SPECTROSCOPY AND DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: June 29, 2005
Publication Date: January 23, 2006
Citation: Cao, X., Gordon, S.H., Willett, J.L., Sessa, D.J. 2006. Interactions in poly(lactic acid) and poly(hydroxy ester ether) blends studied by FTIR spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry [abstract]. American Chemical Society. 42(2):623-624.

Technical Abstract: FTIR and DSC have been used to study the interactions in biodegradable blends of PLA and PHEE. Carbonyl absorbance peaks in FTIR spectra of blends were deconvoluted into a combination of Gaussian/Lorentzian peaks. Results show that in neat PHEE polymer there exist two different forms of carbonyl functional groups: the non-hydrogen bonded and the hydrogen bonded forms. When PLA is blended into PHEE and PLA wt percent less than or equal to 50 percent, increasing the PLA weight ration, i.e. W(PLA)/ W(PHEE), increases PHEE's intra-hydrogen bonding. At PLA weight percent less than or equal to 60 percent, however, PLA carbonyls start inter- hydrogen bonds with PHEE hydroxyls, and as W(PLA)/W(PHEE) increases, the relative amount of the inter-hydrogen bonding increases, DSC results are in good agreement with FTIR results.