Comparison of the effects of commercial nucleation agents on the crystallization and melting behaviour of polylactide

The effects of eight commercial nucleation agents on the crystallization of polylactide (PLA) were comparatively investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. Among them, TMC-328 (TMC) and PET-C (PETC) show significant nucleation effects on PLA. Under the same nucleation agent content, the crystallization temperatures of PLA/TMC samples are about 15 degrees C higher than those of PLA/PETC samples at the same cooling rate. However, PETC accelerates the crystal growth of PLA more effectively than TMC. Due to the high crystallization temperatures, the crystals nucleated by TMC are more perfect than those nucleated by PETC. The PLA/PETC samples show double melting peaks. The PLA/TMC samples are more transparent than the PLA/PETC samples. However, TMC promotes the degradation of PLA more seriously than does PETC. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.