Impact of Nanoclay on Isothermal Cold Crystallization Kinetics and Polymorphism of Poly(L-Lactic Acid) Nanocomposites

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) intercalated nanocomposite films containing 1, 2, 5, and 10% organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) have been synthesized by the solvent casting approach. The thermal characteristics, isothermal cold crystallization kinetics, and structural changes of neat PLLA and its nanocomposites during annealing were studied by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. DSC observation showed that melting temperature and final crystallinity were not affected significantly with OMMT loading. PLLA films with increasing OMMT content exhibited higher crystallization rates than neat PLLA during annealing and suggested that the silicate platelets act as a nucleation agent during annealing. The effect of OMMT content on the isothermal crystallization kinetics of PLLA was analyzed using the Avrami equation. An Avrami constant of 1-2 was observed, suggesting that crystallization proceeds through one-dimensional growth with heterogeneous nucleation. FTIR investigation showed a band at 922 cm(-1) at all T-a, and no band at 908 cm(-1) suggested that all samples form a crystal regardless of OMMT content or T-a.