Comparison of Interaction and Compatibility in the Blends of Poly(e-caprolactone) with Cellulose Derivatives

Abstract

The hydrogen-bonding interaction between poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) and cellulose derivatives–nitrocellulose (NC), ethyl cellulose (EC) and cellulose carbamate (CC) has been studied by Fourier Transform Infrared. The FTIR results revealed that in PCL/NC blends the hydrogen-bonded carbonyl was dominant when NC content was more than 50%. Cellulose carbamate had the substituting groups with more protons, could form very strong intramolecular interaction. The hydrogen-bonding interaction between PCL and CC could not be observed in infrared spectra. In PCL/EC blends, the intermolecular interaction existed between two components although the intensity of this interaction was weaker than that of PCL/NC blends. DSC measurements showed that the addition of NC gave the most evident affection for the crystallization behaviour of PCL. The influence of EC, CC on the crystallization behaviour of PCL was lower than that of NC, gradually. So we could conclude that the substituting groups of cellulose derivatives could affect the compatibility of the blends of cellulose derivatives could affect the compatibility of the blends including PCL obviously.