Enhanced Toughness of Poly(<italic style="font-style: italic">L</italic>-lactide)/Poly(<italic style="font-style: italic">ε</italic>-caprolactone) Blends <italic style="font-style: italic">via</italic> Stereocomplex Crystallites: Role of Poly(<italic style="font-style: italic">D</italic>-lactide) Chain Length in Compatibilizers

Lei Gong; Jian-Gang Zhang; Wen Cao; Xiong Liu; Zi-Jun Zhang; Hong-Tao Lu; Jian-Na Bao; Wen-Xing Chen

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3834-z

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Enhanced Toughness of Poly(L-lactide)/Poly(ε-caprolactone) Blends via Stereocomplex Crystallites: Role of Poly(D-lactide) Chain Length in Compatibilizers

RESEARCH ARTICLE | 更新时间：2026-10-28

- Enhanced Toughness of Poly(L-lactide)/Poly(ε-caprolactone) Blends via Stereocomplex Crystallites: Role of Poly(D-lactide) Chain Length in Compatibilizers
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Pages: 1-18(2026)
- 作者机构：
  
  a.School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
  b.Yangzhou Huitong Technology Co., Ltd., Yangzhou 225101, China
- 作者简介：
  
  baojianna@zstu.edu.cn
- 基金信息：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3834-z
  CLC：
- Received：10 June 2026，
  
  Accepted：04 August 2026，
  
  Online First：28 October 2026，
  
  Published：2026-09
- 稿件说明：
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Gong, L.; Zhang, J. G.; Cao, W.; Liu, X.; Zhang, Z. J.; Lu, H. T.; Bao, J. N.; Chen, W. X. Enhanced toughness of poly(L-lactide)/poly(ε-caprolactone) blends via stereocomplex crystallites: role of poly(D-lactide) chain length in compatibilizers. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3834-z

Lei Gong, Jian-Gang Zhang, Wen Cao, et al. Enhanced Toughness of Poly(L-lactide)/Poly(ε-caprolactone) Blends via Stereocomplex Crystallites: Role of Poly(D-lactide) Chain Length in Compatibilizers[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-18. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3834-z.
Gong, L.; Zhang, J. G.; Cao, W.; Liu, X.; Zhang, Z. J.; Lu, H. T.; Bao, J. N.; Chen, W. X. Enhanced toughness of poly(L-lactide)/poly(ε-caprolactone) blends via stereocomplex crystallites: role of poly(D-lactide) chain length in compatibilizers. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3834-z DOI：

Lei Gong, Jian-Gang Zhang, Wen Cao, et al. Enhanced Toughness of Poly(L-lactide)/Poly(ε-caprolactone) Blends via Stereocomplex Crystallites: Role of Poly(D-lactide) Chain Length in Compatibilizers[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-18. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3834-z. DOI：

摘要

Abstract

Biodegradable poly(

-lactide) (PLLA)/poly(

-caprolactone) (PCL) blends exhibit poor toughness because of their incompatibility. In this study

double-graft polymers (DCL) with different molecular weights of poly(

-lactide) (PDLA) were successfully synthesized through grafting PDLA and PCL onto the multifunctional epoxy-based styrene-acrylic oligomer (ADR) molecular chain by reactive blending

and their structures were confirmed by FTIR and

H-NMR spectra. Based on contact angle measurements and interfacial tension calculations

the graft copolymers preferentially localized at the interface between the two phases. This interfacial arrangement enhanced the interactions across the blend. The incorporation of PDLA was found to induce the formation of stereocomplex (SC) crystallites

which markedly reinforced the interfacial adhesion within the PLLA/PCL blend. Consequently

the elongation at break of the compatibilized blends exhibited an increasing trend with increasing compatibilizer content. Among them

the PLLA/PCL blend containing 5 wt% DCL with PDLA segments of 20 kg/mol exhibited the best tensile performance

outperforming the corresponding blend containing the double-graft copolymer with PLLA segments (LCL) owing to the formation of SC crystallites. Meanwhile

the influences of PDLA in DCL with varying

designed

on the morphology

crystallization

mechanical

thermal

and rheological properties of PLLA/PCL blends were investigated. It was found that DCL with a moderate length of PDLA (

e.g.

designed

=20 kg/mol) displayed better compatibilization efficiency than copolymers with shorter or longer PDLA chains

significantly reducing the size of PCL domains and improving the dispersion uniformity. After incorporating DCL with the PDLA of

designed

=20 kg/mol

the elongation at break and fracture energy of the PLLA/PCL blends reached 304% and 9.7 kJ/m

respectively

which were 20 and 24 times higher than those of the original PLLA/PCL. Compared to the uncompatibilized blend

the compatibilized blends displayed denser spherulites

which were derived from the nucleation of SC crystallization. The mechanical properties of the blends were improved through the transformation of the size and dispersion of PCL domains

and the size of spherulites tuned by PDLA with different molecular weights. By adjusting the molecular weight of PDLA in the compatibilizer

this study offers a strategy for fabricating PLLA-based materials with outstanding toughness.

关键词

Keywords

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Enhanced Toughness of Poly(L-lactide)/Poly(ε-caprolactone) Blends via Stereocomplex Crystallites: Role of Poly(D-lactide) Chain Length in Compatibilizers

DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3834-z

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references