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Miércoles 14 - 16:20

Daniel Hermida-Merino
Martin Rosenthal - David Chapron - Carmen Moya-López - Carlos Alonso - Iván Bravo - Francesca Bertella - Jules Harings

Nanostructure of customized HMw stereocomplex-PLA copolymers

PLA is a widely employed biobased polymer in diverse fields such as food handling or biomedical applications [1] usually synthesized by Ring-Opening Polymerization (ROP). However, the current PLA applicability regarding thermal resistance, mechanical properties and crystallinity kinetics is slightly inferior to conventional petroleum-based polymers. Different strategies have been evaluated to improve the physicochemical properties such as the use of nucleating agents to increase the crystallization rate or the equimolar blend of PLLA and PDLA enantiomers to generate Stereocomplex (SC) crystallites, which features a melting point 50 °C higher than its homocrystals (HC) counterparts. However, the SC crystallization of the blended enantiomers diminishes for high molecular weight (HMw) PLA, and enantiomeric HC are obtained instead [2]. Herein, a novel series of the long-desired HMw stereo-diblock-copolymers of PLA were successfully synthesized by ROP using a heteroscorpionate catalyst without the need for a co-initiator [3], achieving a full stereocomplex crystallization. Moreover, the crystallization kinetics and morphology, of the designed SC-PLA-derivatives were enhanced to the highest known crystallization rate by the addition of a bioorganic nucleating agent (OXA2) to retain the bio-nature of the composite, which offers promising processing conditions to be scaled at industrial level. Furthermore, the customization of the tacticity and molecular weight through the well-controlled synthesis process, enables the generation of a series of PLA-derivatives exhibiting a wide range of thermodynamic and structural properties, as evidenced by a multitechnique analysis approach (DSC, SAXS/WAXS, Raman), which could potentially promote the personalization of medical applications through the structure-properties relationship and its final applications.

Chairperson: Alejandro J. Müller

Dpto Física Aplicada, Universidade de Vigo, Lagoas-Marcosende, Vigo, 36310, Galicia, Spain.

Martin Rosenthal – DUBBLE@ESRF, CS 40220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.

David Chapron –  LMOPS, Université de Lorraine, Centrale Supélec, EA 4423, 2 rue Edouard Belin, Metz, 57070, France.

Carmen Moya-López –  LMOPS, Université de Lorraine, Centrale Supélec, EA 4423, 2 rue Edouard Belin, Metz, 57070, France

Carlos Alonso – Dpto. Inorgánica, Orgánica y Bioquímica,Facultad de Farmacia de Albacete, UCLM, Albacete‐02071, Spain.

Iván Bravo – Dpto. Inorgánica, Orgánica y Bioquímica,Facultad de Farmacia de Albacete, UCLM, Albacete‐02071, Spain.

Francesca Bertella – Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Jules Harings – Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

[1] O. Dechy-cabaret, B. Martin-vaca, D. Bourissou, Controlled Ring-Opening Polymerization of Lactide and Glycolide, (2004) 20–23.
[2] H. Tsuji, Poly(lactic acid) stereocomplexes: A decade of progress, Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 107 (2016) 97–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2016.04.017.
[3] C. Moya-Lopez, I. Bravo, J.A. Castro-Osma, D. Chapron, P. Bourson, C. Vagner, M. Cochez, N. Leon, C. Alonso-Moreno, D. Hermida-Merino, Synthesis of High Molecular Weight Stereo-Di-Block Copolymers Driven by a Co-Initiator Free Catalyst, (2022) 1–16.