RESUMEN
The nucleating effect of silk fibroin nano-disc (SFN) on the crystallization behavior of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) was investigated by simultaneous synchrotron small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements. For the isothermal crystallization at 110 °C from the melt, the induction period of the PLLA specimens containing 1% SFN was reduced compared to that of the neat specimens, indicating the acceleration of the nucleation of PLLA. The final degree of crystallinity was also increased, and the crystallization half-time was decreased, which indicates that the overall crystallization process was accelerated. Furthermore, the final value of the crystallite size (the lateral size of the crystalline lamella) was slightly lower for the specimens containing 1% SFN than that for the PLLA neat specimen, although the crystallites started growing much earlier. However, it was found that there was no effect of SFN on the growth rate of the crystallite size. The lamellar thickening process was also accelerated with a clear overshooting phenomenon with the inclusion of 1% SFN. As for the polymorphism, the α' phase is dominant with about 96%, but a small amount of the α phase (4%) is found to exist. It was found that the SFN can also accelerate the formation of the minor α phase as well as the major α' phase.
RESUMEN
Radial symmetry is essential for the conventional view of the polymer spherulite microstructure. Typically it is assumed that, in the course of the spherulite morphogenesis, the lamellar crystals grow radially. Using submicron X-ray diffraction, it is shown that in banded spherulites of poly(propylene adipate) the crystals have the shape of a helix with flat-on crystals winding around a virtual cylinder of about 6 µm in diameter. The helix angle of 30° implies that the crystal growth direction is tilted away from the spherulite radius by this angle. The implications of the helical crystal shape contradict the paradigm of the spherulitic microstructure. The radial growth rate of such spherulites does not correspond to the crystal growth rate, but to the propagation rate of the virtual cylinder the ribbons wind around.