Reactive extrusion of poly(L-latctide) (PLLA) was carried out in the presence of a small amount of various peroxides. The resulting crosslinked, four-armed randomly branched PLLA (χ-PLLA) was characterized by size exclusion chromatography fitted with multiangle laser light scattering and rationalized with the type of peroxide used. The extent of branching of χ-PLLA was estimated by the shrinking factor and was rationalized with the effective radical number per PLLA precursor n. The nucleation and overall crystallization rate of χ-PLLA in the nonisothermal crystallization from the melt was rationalized with branching and entanglement density.
- Masumi Takamura
- Tomoyuki Nakamura
- Kiyohito Koyama
