Metal Chloride Induced Formation of Porous Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) Films: Morphology, Thermal Properties and Crystallinity

摘要

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) films with highly porous structures were synthesized using a one phase system comprising of metal chloride/methanol/PHB/chloroform (MCl2/CH3OH/PHB/CHCl3). SEM analyses confirmed that the MCl2 (where M = Cu~(2+) or Ni~(2+)) induced porous structures with pore sizes ranging from 0.3 - 2.0 μm. The average pore size increased with the increasing MCl2 content. There existed weak physical interactions between the PHB chains and MCl2 as revealed by FTIR and NMR spectroscopies. The residue of MCl2 in the porous PHB film does not exert significant influence on the thermal stability of PHB. Nevertheless, the crystallinity of the prepared film is enhanced, as MCl2 acts as the nucleation sites to promote the growth of spherullites.