Thermal Properties, Isothermal Decomposition by Direct Analysis in Real-Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry and Non Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Poly(Ethylene-Co-Vinyl Alcohol)/Poly(ε-Caprolactone) Blend

• Main Authors: Abdulaziz Ali Alghamdi, Hussain Alattas, Waseem Sharaf Saeed, Abdel-Basit Al-Odayni, Ahmed Yacine Badjah Hadj Ahmed, Ahmad Abdulaziz Al-Owais, Taieb Aouak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Crystals
• Subjects: poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol)/Poly(ε-caprolactone blend; non-isothermal crystallization kinetics; thermal decomposition; direct analysis in real-time-time-of-flight mass spectrometry; thermal gravimetry analysis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/11/3/292

A series of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol)/poly(ε-caprolactone) blends with different compositions were prepared using solvent casting. The miscibility of this pair of polymers was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and proved by a negative Flory interaction parameter value calculated from the Nishi–Wang equation. The miscibility of this blend was also confirmed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The thermal behaviors of the obtained materials were investigated by DSC, thermogravimetric analysis, and direct analysis in real-time–time-of-flight mass spectrometry and the results obtained were very relevant. Furthermore, the crystalline properties of the obtained materials were studied by DSC and X-ray diffraction where the Ozawa approach was adopted to investigate the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics. The results obtained revealed that this approach described the crystallization process well.