Regulating performance of poly(L-lactic acid) by Addition of N, N′-Bis(Salicyloyl) p-phthalic acid dihydrazide

Within this work, the influence of a crystallization accelerator N, N'-bis(salicyloyl) p-phthalic acid dihydrazide (PAS) on the non-isothermal crystallization behavior, melting behavior, thermal stability, and light transmittance of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), x-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and light transmittance meter. Comparative analysis of the non-isothermal crystallization behavior of the primary PLLA and PLLA/PAS samples revealed an important role of PAS in promoting the crystallization of PLLA in cooling. Additionally, the concentration of PAS and cooling rate also exhibited significant effect on the non-isothermal crystallization process, and the 3 wt% PAS causes the PLLA to have the highest the onset crystallization temperature and the crystallization peak temperature, and the largest non-isothermal crystallization enthalpy. However, the increase of cooling rate resulted in the decrease of crystal growth ability, weakening the crystallization of PLLA. The investigating on the melting behavior under different conditions further confirmed the crystallization promoting effect of PAS for PLLA, and the crystallization temperature, resulting from the different crystal growth rate, affected remarkably the melting behavior of PLLA/3%PAS sample. The addition of PAS could not change the thermal decomposition behavior of the primary PLLA, but decreased the onset decomposition temperature with an increase of PAS concentration in PLLA matrix. Similarly, the incorporation of PAS is unfavourable to the light transmittance of the primary PLLA.