Effect of poly(ethylene glycol)-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes on the crystallization kinetics and morphology of biodegradable poly(ethylene succinate)

Biodegradable poly(ethylene succinate) (PES)/poly(ethylene glycol)-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (PEG-POSS) nanocomposites were prepared via a solution and casting method in this work. The distribution of PEG-POSS, miscibility between PES and PEG-POSS, and crystallization behavior of PES/PEG-POSS nanocomposites were fully investigated. PEG-POSS particles were homogeneously dispersed in the PES matrix. PEG-POSS was miscible with PES to some degree, because the samples displayed a single composition dependent glass transition temperature and a depression of equilibrium melting point of PES in the nanocomposites. PEG-POSS increased the chain mobility of PES, thereby improving the nonisothermal cold and melt crystallization processes, accelerating the isothermal melt crystallization rate, and increasing the spherulitic growth rate of the nanocomposites. However, the isothermal crystallization mechanism and the crystal structure of PES were not modified by PEG-POSS. PEG-POSS enhanced the crystallization behavior of PES by acting as a plasticizer.