Effect of tungsten disulfide nanotubes on crystallization of polylactide under uniaxial deformation and annealing

Abstract

Abstract Tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanotubes (NTs) are examined here as a filler for polylactide (PLA) for their ability to accelerate PLA crystallization and for their promising biocompatibility in relevant to biomedical applications of PLA-WS2 nanocomposites. In this work, we have studied the structural and thermal properties of PLA-WS2 nanocomposite films varying the concentration of WS2 NTs from 0 (neat PLA) to 0.6 wt%. The films were uniaxially drawn at 90 °C and annealed at the same temperature for 3 and 10 min. Using wide angle x-ray scattering, Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, we probed the effects of WS2 NT addition on the structure of the PLA films at various stages of processing (unstretched, stretching, annealing). We found that 0.6 wt% of WS2 induces the same level of crystallinity in as stretched PLA-WS2 as annealing in neat PLA for 10 min. These data provide useful insights into the role of WS2 NTs on the structural evolution of PLA-WS2 composites under uniaxial deformation, and extend their applicability to situations where fine tuning of PLA crystallinity is desirable.

Keywords

• Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)
• Tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanotubes
• Nanocomposites
• Strain-induced crystallization
• Uniaxial deformation
• Raman spectroscopy