ABSTRACT Host-Guest Inclusion complex (IC) formation is a well known method to reorganize the polymer chains and improve their mechanical and rheological properties. Modifying polymers using cyclodextrins (CDs) is one such way of processing polymers. CDs, cyclic starches containing glucose repeat units, are often able to form non-covalently bonded ICs with guest polymers by threading them through their hydrophobic cavities. Cd-ICs with biopolymers like Poly(e-caprolactone) ((PCL a-CD-IC ) are bio-absorbable, bio-compatible and bio-Degradable and can be used for biomedical applications. On removal of the host a-CDs, the c-PCL that results is likely transformed into small domains (~1/10ththe size of the crystalline grains of the IC powder). In each domain the PCL chains are likely partially aligned and have largely un-entangled extended conformations, without, however, directional correlation among the different coalesced domains. In comparison to samples made from randomly-coiled and entangled as-received PCL (ar-PCL), the rheological and mechanical properties of c-PCL are distinct and improved. For example, c-PCL melt exhibits yield stress and shows a zero shear viscosity nearly 3 orders of magnitude below that of an ar-PCL melt, and frequency sweep behavior distinct from that observed in the viscoelastic melt of the ar-PCL. .Also c-PCL films and undrawn and drawn fibers were observed to have significantly and greatly higher moduli, respectively, and greatly reduced extensibilities.

Polymer processing using a -cyclodextrin and its characterization

247th National Meeting (2014)

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