Isothermal Kinetics of Poly(butylene adipate-<i>co</i>-butylene\nitaconate) Copolyesters with Ethylenediaminetetraacetic\nAcid

Abstract

A series\nof aliphatic copolyesters, poly­(butylene adipate-<i>co</i>-butylene itaconate) (PBABI), have been synthesized using\nmelt polycondensation of adipic acid (AA), itaconic acid (IA), 1,4-butanediol\n(1,4-BDO), and the tetra-functional group of ethylenediaminetetraacetic\nacid (EDTA, 0.1 mol %) to form partially cross-linking density as\nnovel thermoplastic unsaturated copolyesters in our previous research.\nThe crystal phase of PBABI copolyesters tended to prefer thermodynamics\nin the presence of a small amount of EDTA. The isothermal crystallization\nanalysis revealed that the PBABI with EDTA exhibited a higher crystallization\nrate and a shorter half-time of crystallization than neat PBABI copolyesters.\nAll of the sizes of spherulite/sheet crystals in the BA/BI = 9/1 are\nsmaller than at BA/BI = 10/0 with or without a cross-linking agent,\nwhich demonstrated that the morphology behavior tended to form a small\nsheet crystal in the presence of 10 mol % IA, which played a dominant\nrole in determining the average size of the crystal. These results\ndeepen our understanding of the relationship among the cross-linking\nagent, the crystal form, and solidification time in PBABI copolyesters,\nmaking these kinds of polymers applicable to reinforce three-dimensional\n(3D) air-permeable polyester-based smart textiles.