Effect of the mesoporous structure of titanium silicate (ts-1) zeolite on the melting behavior and isothermal crystallization behavior of poly(butylene succinate)/ts-1 zeolite hybrid composites

In this study, we investigated the effects of mesoporous titanium silicate (TS-1) zeolite on the melting behavior and isothermal crystallization in poly(butylene succinate) (PBS)/TS-1 zeolite hybrid composites (PTHC). Isothermal crystallization results revealed that TS-1 zeolite acted as a nucleation agent in PTHC, thus the t1/2 of PTHC was faster than that of homo-PBS. However, the nucleation effect of TS-1zeolite did not depend on the TS-1 zeolite content. The large surface area of the mesoporous structure readily formed molecular chains inside and outside of the pore mouths of TS-1 zeolite, covering the nucleation site, as a result of the byproduct deposition during polymerization. At isothermal crystallization, temperatures ranging from 88 to 92 oC, nucleation of TS-1 zeolite occurred because of the presence of free byproducts and the formation of a molecular chain in the pore mouths. In contrast, isothermal temperatures ranging from 80 to 84 oC resulted in ineffective nucleus activation because of the steric hindrance in the porous structure. Synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis revealed that TS-1 zeolite can accelerate lamellar recrystallization during heating.