Berlin 2024 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 15: Poster I

CPP 15.14: Poster

Monday, March 18, 2024, 18:00–20:00, Poster C

In situ X-ray studies of temperature-controlled structures in polylactic acid — •Regine Boldt¹, Laura Meinig¹, Eric Euchler¹, Anna Katharina Sambale¹, Kai Uhlig¹, Matthias Schwartzkopf², and Markus Stommel^1,3 — ¹Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung, Dresden, Germany — ²Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg Germany — ³TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a frequently used biopolymer. It is used, for example, as films for food packaging and in agriculture in the form of mulch films. PLA is also used in medicine as implant or suture material. To precisely control application-specific material properties, a better understanding of the formation of relevant structures and identifying influential process parameters is essential. In this work, we focused on investigating the formation of crystalline structures at different temperatures. It is known that PLA crystallizes in two different modifications depending on the temperature: (i) the metastable α'-phase and (ii) the thermodynamically stable α-phase. We investigated the formation of the different phases using in situ synchrotron X-ray scattering experiments. Using a newly developed experimental setup, PLA was heated to melt and then cooled to different temperatures and monitored the crystallite formation as a function of time. As a result, new insights into the process-controlled formation of α'- and α-phases were achieved.

Keywords: Polylactid acid; Biopolymer; in situ X-ray; temperature-controlled structure