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Crystallization in Nanoparticles

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Controlling the Morphology of Polymers

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Abstract

Confined polymers have attracted attention in the last years because of their implementation in current and future technologies. Moreover, these nanostructured materials provide systems for study finite-size effects in soft matter where changes of the physical properties, in comparison to the bulk, have been observed. Particularly, polymer crystallization has been reported to be strongly affected by confinement: different morphologies are observed, crystallization rates decrease, surface-induced phases appear and even crystallization might be inhibited. In this work, we explore the crystallization of poly(lactic acid) nanoparticles, prepared following two different protocols. We observed the formation of a mesophase dependent on the preparation method. Also, we present the possibility of preparing morphology-controlled polymer nanocrystals, using the polymer nanoparticles as template.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Estructura de la Materia (IEM-CSIC), C/Serrano 121, Madrid, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Aurora Nogales & Daniel E. Martínez-Tong

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  1. Aurora Nogales
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  2. Daniel E. Martínez-Tong
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Correspondence to Aurora Nogales .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development, Institute Polytechnic of Leiria, Marinha Grande, Portugal

    Geoffrey R. Mitchell

  2. Center for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development, Institute Polytechnic of Leiria, Marinha Grande, Portugal

    Ana Tojeira

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Nogales, A., Martínez-Tong, D.E. (2016). Crystallization in Nanoparticles. In: Mitchell, G., Tojeira, A. (eds) Controlling the Morphology of Polymers. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39322-3_6

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