Baroplastic Effect of Aliphatic Polyester Block Copolymers for Degradation-Free Multicycle Processing of Poly(l-lactide).

ABSTRACT: Advancing sustainable plastics is crucial to achieving a circular plastic economy. Baroplastics, block copolymers exhibiting order-disorder transitions under pressure, allow polymer processing at ambient temperatures, reducing energy use and avoiding thermal degradation. Their application, however, has been limited by structural constraints. This study introduces poly(ε-caproclactone-random-5-ethyleneketal ε-caprolactone)-block-poly(l-lactide) (PmCL-b-PLLA) as a "baroplasticizer" for nonbaroplastic PLLA. Blending with the block polymers lowered PLLA's flow temperature by up to 100 °C (160 to 60 °C at 50 MPa) while preserving molecular weight after repeated pressure cycles, ensuring recyclability. The improved formability would arise from a pressure-induce

SUBMITTER: Sharma N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12632162 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature