Extremely fragile glass-formers? Calorimetric and rheological determinations

Astrid K. Torres Arellano, Gregory B. McKenna

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11 Scopus citations

Abstract

We use calorimetry and rheology to investigate reports of extremely fragile polymers and the speculation that d,l-lactic acid should be extremely fragile. The dynamic fragilities of lactic acid, polysulfone, bisphenol-A polycarbonate, and poly(vinyl chloride) were studied. The polymers were used as received and after a wash-precipitation treatment. The current dynamic fragility findings are not in agreement with those reported by C. Evans, H. Deng, W. Jager, J. Torkelson, Macromolecules 2013, 46 (15), 6091-6103 of extremely high fragilities for the mentioned polymers. We also found no sample preparation history effect on the dynamic fragility values. The calorimetric and rheological results for the d,l-lactic acid show dynamic fragility values that are consistent with each other and are not extremely fragile. Calorimetric measurements that use a broad range of cooling rates gave smaller dynamic fragility values than those obtained from a limited range at higher cooling rates. The importance of the results is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1261-1272
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics
Volume53
Issue number18
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 15 2015

Keywords

  • calorimetry
  • dynamic fragility
  • lactic acid, glass formation, polymers, rheology
  • polycarbonate
  • polysulfone
  • viscosity

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