Table 5. DSC Data Derived from Cooling and Second Heating DSC Curves: Glass Transition Temperature (Tg), Cold Crystallization Temperature (Tc) and Associated Heat of Crystallization (ΔHc), Melting Point (Tm) and Associated Heat of Fusion (ΔHm), and Degree of Crystallinity (χ).
| sample | Tg (°C) | Tc (°C) | ΔHc (J·g–1) | Tm (°C) | ΔHm (J·g–1) | χ (%)a |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLA | 61.5 | 111.9 | 32.8 | 171.9 | 32.7 | 35.2 |
| PLAIm-PLLA | 56.4 | 93.1 | 17.4 | 169.0 | 40.8 | 48.7 |
| PLAPEG-b-PLLA | 58.6 | 97.4 | 27.2 | 170.3 | 41.9 | 50.1 |
| PLAIm-PLLA+5CNC | 56.3 | 94.9 | 16.3 | 167.9 | 43.5 | 55.0 |
| PLAPEG-b-PLLA+5CNC | 59.9 | 99.2 | 27.7 | 170.3 | 42.6 | 53.9 |
| PLAIm-PLLA+10CNC | 58.9 | 98.8 | 22.5 | 168.3 | 39.9 | 53.6 |
| PLAPEG-b-PLLA+10CNC | 60.5 | 89.9 | 15.4 | 169.2 | 44.6 | 59.9 |
| PLAIm-PLLA+20CNC | 56.0 | 91.5 | 17.4 | 167.7 | 52.4 | 80.5 |
| PLAPEG-b-PLLA+20CNC | 56.7 | 92.2 | 28.5 | 168.6 | 61.5 | 94.5 |
a
Degree of crystallinity of PLA, χ = ΔHm/[(1 – ø) × ΔH°] × 100, where ø is the mass fraction of elements other than PLA (e.g., CNCs and the surfactant) and ΔH° is the melting enthalpy for a 100% crystalline PLA (93 J·g–1).45