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Interaction of poly l-lactide and tungsten disulfide nanotubes studied by in situ x-ray scattering during expansion of plla/ws2nt nanocomposite tubes

TitleInteraction of poly l-lactide and tungsten disulfide nanotubes studied by in situ x-ray scattering during expansion of plla/ws2nt nanocomposite tubes
Publication TypeArticolo su Rivista peer-reviewed
Year of Publication2021
AuthorsRocher, L., Ylitalo A.S., Di Luccio Tiziana, Miscioscia Riccardo, De Filippo G., Pandolfi G., Villani Fulvia, Zak A., Menary G.H., Lennon A.B., and Kornfield J.A.
JournalPolymers
Volume13
KeywordsBlow molding, Circumferential direction, Crystal orientation, Crystals, Extrusion, Favorable interactions, In-situ synchrotrons, Inorganic nanotubes, Microstructure, Nanocomposites, Nanotubes, Polymers, Scaffolds, Situ x-ray scatterings, Stretching direction, Sulfur compounds, Tubes (components), Tungsten compounds, Tungsten disulfide, Vascular scaffolds, X ray scattering
Abstract

In situ synchrotron X-ray scattering was used to reveal the transient microstructure of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA)/tungsten disulfide inorganic nanotubes (WS2NTs) nanocomposites. This microstructure is formed during the blow molding process (“tube expansion”) of an extruded polymer tube, an important step in the manufacturing of PLLA-based bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS). A fundamental understanding of how such a microstructure develops during processing is relevant to two unmet needs in PLLA-based BVS: increasing strength to enable thinner devices and improving radiopacity to enable imaging during implantation. Here, we focus on how the flow generated during tube expansion affects the orientation of the WS2NTs and the formation of polymer crystals by comparing neat PLLA and nanocomposite tubes under different expansion conditions. Surprisingly, the WS2NTs remain oriented along the extrusion direction despite significant strain in the transverse direction while the PLLA crystals (c-axis) form along the circumferential direction of the tube. Although WS2NTs promote the nucleation of PLLA crystals in nanocomposite tubes, crystallization proceeds with largely the same orientation as in neat PLLA tubes. We suggest that the reason for the unusual independence of the orientations of the nanotubes and polymer crystals stems from the favorable interaction between PLLA and WS2NTs. This favorable interaction leads WS2NTs to disperse well in PLLA and strongly orient along the axis of the PLLA tube during extrusion. As a consequence, the nanotubes are aligned orthogonally to the circumferential stretching direction, which appears to decouple the orientations of PLLA crystals and WS2NTs. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85107776413&doi=10.3390%2fpolym13111764&partnerID=40&md5=85570877f97cf4bec87dcc03a490cb94
DOI10.3390/polym13111764
Citation KeyRocher2021