title: Insights into the nucleation role of cellulose crystals during crystallization of poly(β-hydroxybutyrate).
abstract: Cellulose crystals, including microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), were used as the fillers to prepare green composites with poly(β-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) by melt mixing for crystallization study. The results reveal that the spherulite morphology of PHB and its composites depends highly on the crystallization temperature, evolving from bundle shaped to ring-banded and finally to irregular or zigzag textures with increase of temperature. However, the ring-banded structure is strongly affected by the presence of cellulose crystals, and the average band space decreases evidently with the addition of MCC or NCC. Compared with PHB/MCC composite, PHB/NCC composite shows degraded spherulite structure with smaller band space and higher flocculation level of peak-to-valley height because of stronger unbalanced stresses in this system. Besides, cellulose crystals can act as good heterogeneous nucleating agent to accelerate the crystallization of PHB, which is further confirmed by the polarized optical microscopy observations and the kinetic analyses.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu 225002, PR China; Provincial Key Laboratories of Environmental Engineering & Material, Jiangsu 225002, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianxiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu 225002, PR China.
authors.forename: Chunjiang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu 225002, PR China; Provincial Key Laboratories of Environmental Engineering & Material, Jiangsu 225002, PR China. Electronic address: dfwu@yzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Defeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu 225002, PR China.
authors.forename: Keren
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu 225002, PR China.
authors.forename: Aiwen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu 225002, PR China.
authors.forename: Yulu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sha
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu 225002, PR China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Kunming Puerdun Environmental Protection Scientific & Tech Co. Ltd., Yunnan 650000, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tong
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates
chemical_list: D002482:Cellulose; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates; D011091:Polyesters; C003182:poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates
keywords: Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC); Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC); Nucleation; Poly(β-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB); Spherulite