Investigation of Chain Folding and Traversing during Melt Crystallization of Poly(L-lactide) Based on Selective Alkali Hydrolysis of Its Amorphous Regions

Yu-Fei Dong; Xin-Yang Zhou; Zhao-Hua Ren; Jia-Chen Zhang; Man Xi; Jia-Yao Wang; Ji-Chun You

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3436-1

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Investigation of Chain Folding and Traversing during Melt Crystallization of Poly(L-lactide) Based on Selective Alkali Hydrolysis of Its Amorphous Regions

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2025-12-03

- Investigation of Chain Folding and Traversing during Melt Crystallization of Poly(L-lactide) Based on Selective Alkali Hydrolysis of Its Amorphous Regions
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 43, Issue 12, Pages: 2395-2402(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.College of Material, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Organosilicon Chemistry and Material Technology, Ministry of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
  b.Key Laboratory of Yarn Materials Forming and Composite Processing Technology of Zhejiang Province, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing 314001, China
- Author bio：
  
  xixi123456@zjxu.edu.cn (M.X.)
  jiayaowang@hznu.edu.cn (J.Y.W.)
  you@hznu.edu.cn (J.C.Y.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3436-1
  CLC：
- Received：22 June 2025，
  
  Accepted：17 August 2025，
  
  Online First：12 November 2025，
  
  Published：15 December 2025
- Accepted：
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Dong, Y. F.; Zhou, X. Y.; Ren, Z. H.; Zhang, J. C.; Xi, M.; Wang, J. Y.; You, J. C. Investigation of chain folding and traversing during melt crystallization of poly(L-lactide) based on selective alkali hydrolysis of its amorphous regions. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 2395–2402

Yu-Fei Dong, Xin-Yang Zhou, Zhao-Hua Ren, et al. Investigation of Chain Folding and Traversing during Melt Crystallization of Poly(L-lactide) Based on Selective Alkali Hydrolysis of Its Amorphous Regions[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(12): 2395-2402.
Dong, Y. F.; Zhou, X. Y.; Ren, Z. H.; Zhang, J. C.; Xi, M.; Wang, J. Y.; You, J. C. Investigation of chain folding and traversing during melt crystallization of poly(L-lactide) based on selective alkali hydrolysis of its amorphous regions. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 2395–2402 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3436-1.

Yu-Fei Dong, Xin-Yang Zhou, Zhao-Hua Ren, et al. Investigation of Chain Folding and Traversing during Melt Crystallization of Poly(L-lactide) Based on Selective Alkali Hydrolysis of Its Amorphous Regions[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(12): 2395-2402. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3436-1.

摘要

By utilizing the selective hydrolysis of polymer chains in the amorphous regions of melt-crystallized PLLA

the maximum folding number and minimum cluster number within a single chain were quantitatively determined. Our work provides a strategy for investigating chain folding and traversing during the melt crystallization of polymers.

Abstract

An efficient strategy has been developed to reconstruct chain folding and traversing of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) during melt crystallization based on the selective hydrolysis of its amorphous regions. The molecular weights of the pristine PLLA (crystalline part)

single stem

and single cluster were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) according to their evolution during alkali hydrolysis. The maximum-folding-number (in a single cluster) and minimum-cluster-number (in one polymer chain) were obtained using these molecular weights. With the help of two numbers

the chain folding and traversing during the melt crystallization process (at 120 °C) of PLLA can be described as follows. Statistically

in a single polymer chain

there are at least 2 clusters consisting of up to 6.5 stems in each of them

while the rest of the polymer chain contributes to amorphous regions. Our results provide a new strategy for the investigation and fundamental understanding of the melt crystallization of PLLA.

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