Solid‐state structure of thermally crystallized syndiotactic polystyrene

The solid‐state structure of syndiotactic polystyrene (s‐PS) after crystallization from the melt and the glassy state was examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), density, and X‐ray diffraction analysis. It was possible to prepare semicrystalline s‐PS containing either the pure α‐ or the pure β‐crystalline form by melt crystallizing s‐PS from 280 or 330°C. The measurements confirmed the low density of both crystalline forms, which in the case of α‐crystalline form was smaller and in the case of β‐crystalline form was only slightly larger than the density of the glassy amorphous s‐PS. An endeavor to introduce the crystalline phase in s‐PS through cold crystallization at constant temperature above the glass transition resulted in a complex ordered phase. This ordered phase, depending on the crystallization temperature, contained the planar chain mesomorphic phase and the α‐crystalline phase with a low degree of perfection (cold crystallization in the range 120–175°C) or a mixture of the α‐ and β‐crystalline forms with a high degree of perfection (cold crystallization in the range 210–260°C). The combination of DSC and X‐ray measurements enabled us to resolve the complex ordered structure in semicrystalline s‐PS after cold crystallization. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 2705–2715, 2002     

Morphology,structure, and kinetic analysis of nonisothermal cold‐ and melt‐crystallization of syndiotactic polystyrene

Nonisothermal cold‐ and melt‐crystallization of syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) were carefully carried out by Perkin–Elmer Diamond differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microcopy (POM), and wide angle X‐ray diffraction. The experimental data subjected to the two types of processing were thoroughly analyzed on the basis of Avrami, Tobin, Ziabicki, and combination of Avrami and Ozawa models. Avrami, Tobin, and Ziabicki analyses indicate that nonisothermal cold‐crystallization (A) characterizes smaller Avami and Tobin exponent and larger Ziabicki kinetic crystallizability index G than those obtained from nonisothermal melt‐crystallization (B) possibly due to the existence of partially ordered structures in the quenched samples. Kissinger and the differential isoconversional method (DICM) of Friedman's were utilized to obtain effective energy barrier of A, in good agreement with that obtained by using Arrhenius equation to analyze the isothermal cold‐crystallization, indicating that Kissinger and Friedman equations can be applied to obtain activation energy from A of sPS. X‐ray diffraction analysis indicates that cold‐crystallization mainly produces α‐type crystal but for melt‐crystallization the contents of α‐type and β‐type crystals depend on the cooling rates. The POM also indicates the difference of end morphology of the sample between A and B. At the same time, the DICM of Friedman's was applied to analyze experimental data of B, which were divided into two groups with 20 K/min as the threshold, and it was found that the formation of β‐type crystal possesses larger absolute value of effective activation barrier than the formation of α‐type crystal. © 2006Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 1311–1324, 2007     

Crystallization kinetics and crystalline morphology of poly(ethylene naphthalate) and poly(ethylene terephthalate‐co‐bibenzoate)

Copolymers of ethylene glycol with 4,4′‐bibenzoic acid and terephthalic acid are known to crystallize rapidly to surprisingly high levels of crystallinity. To understand this unusual behavior, the isothermal crystallization of poly(ethylene bibenzoate‐co‐terephthalate) in the molar ratio 55:45 (PETBB55) was studied. Poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN) was included in the study for comparison. The kinetics of isothermal crystallization from the melt and from the amorphous glass was determined using differential thermal analysis. The results were correlated with the crystalline morphology as observed with atomic force microscopy (AFM). Crystallization of PEN exhibited similar kinetics and spherulitic morphology regardless of whether it was cooled from the melt or heated from the glass to the crystallization temperature. The Avrami coefficient was close to 3 for heterogeneous nucleation with 3‐dimensional crystal growth. The copolymer PETBB55 crystallized much faster than did PEN and demonstrated different crystallization habits from the melt and from the glass. From the melt, PETBB55 crystallized in the “normal” way with spherulitic growth and an Avrami coefficient of 3. However, crystallization from the glass produced a granular crystalline morphology with an Avrami coefficient of 2. A quasi‐ordered melt state, close to liquid crystalline but lacking the order of a recognizable mesophase, was proposed to explain the unusual crystallization characteristics of PETBB55. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 98–115, 2002     

Cold‐crystallization kinetics of syndiotactic polystyrene

The kinetics of the isothermal and nonisothermal cold crystallization of syndiotactic polystyrene (s‐PS) were characterized with differential scanning calorimetry. A Johnson–Mehl–Avrami analysis of the isothermal experiments indicated that the cold crystallization of s‐PS at a constant temperature followed a diffusion‐controlled growth mode with a decreasing nucleation rate. Furthermore, the slow nucleation rate was the controlling step of the entire kinetic process. For nonisothermal cold‐crystallization kinetics, we used a simple model based on a combination of the well‐known Avrami and Ozawa models. The analysis revealed that, unlike for melt crystallization, the Avrami and Ozawa exponents were not equal. The activation energies for the isothermal and nonisothermal cold crystallizations of s‐PS were 792.0 and 148.62 kJ mol^?1, respectively, indicating that the smaller motion units in cold crystallization had a weaker temperature dependence than those in melt crystallization. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 3464–3470, 2003     

Shear‐Induced Skin‐Core Structure of Molten Isotactic Polypropylene and the Formation of β‐Crystal

The study of crystallization behavior and crystalline morphology of polymer melt under shear flow is of great interest due to the strong effect of flow field on the final properties of polymer products in the practical processing. In this respect, the shearing hot stage provides a unique tool which monitors sensitively the changes in crystalline structure induced by precise experimental conditions. Herein, the impacts of both melting temperature and shear rate on the crystallization behavior of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) melt are investigated. Under static conditions, there are only random spherulite structures. Once shear is involved, the cylindrite‐layers appear near both surfaces of the sample, which is consistent with the skin‐core structure in the injection molded parts. Meanwhile, the β‐crystals can be developed and are related to the molecular orientation, depending on the applied melting temperatures and shear rates. More interestingly, the crystallinity of β‐crystal in the pure iPP can reach 15%. The above results indicate that the melting temperature and shear rate are important factors in determining the β‐form crystal development of iPP matrix.     

Morphology,crystallization, and thermal behavior of isotactic polypropylene/propylene‐g‐styrene blends

Optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and small angle X‐ray scattering techniques were used to study the influence of the crystallization conditions on morphology and thermal behavior of samples of binary blends constituted of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and a novel graft copolymer of unsaturated propylene with styrene (uPP‐g‐PS) isothermally crystallized from melt, at relatively low undercooling, in a range of crystallization temperatures of the iPP phase. It was shown that, irrespective of composition, no fall in the crystallinity index of the iPP phase was observed. Notwithstanding, spherulitic texture and thermal behavior of the iPP phase in the iPP/uPP‐g‐PS materials were strongly modified by the presence of copolymer. Surprisingly, iPP spherulites crystallized from the blends showed size and regularity higher than that exhibited by plain iPP spherulites. Moreover, the amount of amorphous material located in the interspherulitic amorphous regions decreased with increasing crystallization temperature, and for a given crystallization temperature, with increasing uPP‐g‐PS content. Also, relevant thermodynamic parameters, related to the crystallization process of the iPP phase from iPP/uPP‐g‐PS melts, were found, composition dependent. The equilibrium melting temperature and the surface free energy of folding of the iPP lamellar crystals grown in the presence of uPP‐g‐PS content up to 5% (wt/wt) were, in fact, respectively slightly lower and higher than that found for the lamellar crystals of plain iPP. By further increase of the copolymer content, both the equilibrium melting temperature and surface free energy of folding values were, on the contrary, depressed dramatically. The obtained results were accounted for by assuming that the iPP crystallization process from iPP/uPP‐g‐PS melts could occur through molecular fractionation inducing a combination of morphological and thermodynamic effects. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 79: 2286–2298, 2001     

Influence of clay content on the melting behavior and crystal structure of nonisothermal crystallized poly(L‐lactic acid)/nanocomposites

To study the effect of organophilic clay concentration on nonisothermal crystallization, poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA)/montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites were prepared by mixing various amounts of commercial MMT (Cloisite^® 30B) and PLLA. The effect of MMT content on melting behavior and crystal structure of nonisothermal crystallized PLLA/MMT nanocomposites was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), small‐angle X‐ray scattering, and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. The study was focused on the effect of the filler concentration on thermal and structural properties of the nonisothermally crystallized nanocomposite PLLA/MMT. The results obtained have shown that at filler loadings higher than 3 wt %, intercalation of the clay is observed. At lower clay concentrations (1–3 wt %), exfoliation predominates. DSC and XRD analysis data show that the crystallinity of PLLA/MMT composites increases drastically at high clay loadings (5–9 wt %). In these nanocomposites, PLLA crystallizes nonisothermally in an orthorhombic crystal structure, assigned to the α form of PLLA. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Crystallization kinetics of chain extended poly(lactic acid)/clay nanocomposites

The poly(lactic acid)/clay nanocomposites (PLACNs) were prepared by melt mixing method, then multiepoxide chain extender (CE) was added into PLACNs to induce the branched structure of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) chains. The nonisothermal cold crystallization and isothermal melting crystallization of PLA, PLACNs, and chain extended PLACNs (CEPLACNs) were characterized by DSC and studied by Avrami analysis. The results showed that the inducing of clay and CE affected the crystallization behavior of PLA in different way. Adding CE increased the overall crystallinity of PLA at cooling process, but clay had an opposite effect. Besides that, the addition of CE and clay increased the crystal nuclei number due to the heterogeneous nucleation mechanism. According to the crystallization kinetics study, the inducing of clay almost no effect on the crystal growth rate of PLA, but the branched structure had a pronounced effect for improving crystal growth rate of PLA. POLYM. COMPOS., 36:2123–2134, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineer     

Highly active thermally stable β‐nucleating agents for isotactic polypropylene

Calcium salts of suberic (Ca‐Sub) and pimelic (Ca‐Pim) acids were synthesized and implemented as in different grades of isotactic polypropylene (iPP). Propylene homopolymer, as well as random and block copolymers containing these additives, crystallized iPP into pure or nearly pure β modification in the isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization experiments. Recently, Ca‐Sub proved to be the most effective β‐nucleating agent of iPP. The Ca‐Sub nucleating agent widens the upper crystallization temperature range of pure β‐iPP formation up to 140°C. In this study the effect of the these additives on the crystallization, melting characteristics, and structure of the PP were studied. The degree of crystallinity of β‐iPP was markedly higher than that of α‐iPP. A widening in the melting peak of the samples crystallized in a high temperature range was first observed and discussed in regard to literature results of the same phenomenon for α‐iPP. The morphology of the β‐iPP samples was revealed by scanning electron microscopy. Independent of the type of polymer or nucleating agent, hedritic structures were found in the early stages of growth of the β‐spherulites. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 74: 2357–2368, 1999     

Antisolvent crystallization and solid‐state polymerization of bisphenol‐A polycarbonate

Bisphenol‐A polycarbonate (BAPC) was synthesized by solid‐state polymerization (SSP) using a semicrystalline prepolymer crystallized by antisolvent method. The antisolvent crystallization was investigated as a function of antisolvent types using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), different scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopes (SEM). The results showed antisolvent types had a significant effect on the crystallization of BAPC. Prepolymer induced by acetone as an antisolvent gained a higher crystallinity of 37.0%, more uniform particle size, and mature crystal structure compared with the samples crystallized by methanol and ethanol. Then crystallization of BAPC by acetone was carried out at crystallization temperature in the range of 40–80 °C for 1–5 h. A high crystallinity of 42.0% was acquired with the crystallization conducted at 70 °C for 2 h. Prepolymer with appropriate crystallinity of 37.8% resulted in high‐molecular‐weight polymer of 57,411 via SSP due to the effect of crystallinity and plasticization of residual solvent. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43636.     

Crystallization behavior of PA‐6 clay nanocomposite hybrid

Polyamide‐6 (PA‐6)/clay (modified montmorillonite) hybrid was synthesized by melt blending at high shear stress. ²⁷Al‐NMR of solid state shows that the clay is not modified after melt blending. Using wide‐line ¹H‐NMR and TEM, it is demonstrated that the nanocomposite exhibits mainly an exfoliated structure. It is shown that the modified montmorillonite induces the crystallization of PA‐6 predominantly in γ‐form. The presence of clay in PA‐6 increases the polymer crystallization temperature, and decreases its melting point. These phenomena show that a certain number of interactions develop near the reinforcing material, and that the latter plays a particular role of nucleating agent. However, the crystallization is not spherulitic and the assumption of macromolecular orientation in the vicinity of the clay is demonstrated by the observations carried out in DSC and AFM. These particular properties of orientation will have a particular importance on the mechanical behavior of the nanocomposite material. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 2416–2423, 2002     

Structure development in melt‐spinning syndiotactic polystyrene and comparison to atactic polystyrene

Syndiotactic polystyrene (s‐PS) and atactic polystyrene (a‐PS) were melt‐spun into filaments. The s‐PS filaments exhibited increasing amounts of crystallinity and orientation with increasing drawdown ratio and spinline stress. The a‐PS filaments were amorphous but exhibited birefringence. The birefringence and Hermans orientation factors for a‐PS were proportional to this spinline stress. In ice water and at low drawdown ratios, the s‐PS is glassy or mesomorphic. At higher drawdown ratios and spinline stresses, it crystallized. The crystalline form was the zigzag TTTT hexagonal α‐form. The birefringence and orientation factors of the s‐PS filaments were higher than those of the a‐PS filaments and the difference of the birefringence increased with increasing spinline stress. Mechanical testing results showed that the Young's modulus and tensile strength generally increased with increasing spinline drawdown ratio for both a‐PS and s‐PS filaments. The elongation to break was enhanced for both materials by increased chain orientation. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:2141–2147, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Crystallization studies on a clay nanocomposite prepared from a degradable poly(ester amide) constituted by glycolic acid and 6‐aminohexanoic acid

An intercalated nanocomposite was prepared from an organomodified clay (Cloisite 25A) and a new biodegradable poly(ester amide) characterized by an alternating arrangement of glycolic acid and 6‐aminohexanoic acid units by the melt‐mixing technique. The influence of the final silicate layer morphology on hot and cold crystallization behavior was investigated by optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and synchrotron radiation. Primary nucleation increased significantly with the incorporation of nanoparticles, in contrast with the decrease previously observed when exfoliated structures were obtained. The secondary nucleation constant was higher for the nanocomposite sample, indicating that the growth mechanism was hampered by the presence of clay particles. However, the increase in primary nucleation had a greater effect, resulting in a faster overall crystallization rate for the nanocomposite. The addition of clay particles slightly reduced the degree of crystallinity attained after the hot and cold crystallization processes and favored a lamellar insertion mechanism. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Preparation, Crystallization Behavior, and Morphology of Poly(lactic acid) Clay Hybrids via Wet Kneading Masterbatch Process

Modified masterbatch method comprising of the wet kneading and intercalated modifiers process was successfully applied to prepare exfoliated polylactic acid (PLA) clay hybrids. The crystallization rate of PLA/clay nanocomposite was improved by introducing alkylamide, an intercalated modifier with higher crystallinity. Both XRD and TEM analyses showed that the exfoliated and partially intercalated PLA nanocomposites can be obtained. The effect of clay and intercalated modifier on the nonisothermal, isothermal crystallization kinetics, and morphology of PLA was investigated using DSC instrument. The PLA nanocomposites showed faster crystallization rate because the alkylamide modifier act as a nucleation agent that successfully promoted crystallization. Notably, the crystallinity of PLA/clay hybrids dramatically increased from 9.0 to 42.1 %. The nucleation and crystal growth rate of PLA when crystallized from melt state is greatly influenced by the presence of organoclays. Therefore, as revealed from this isothermal crystallization investigation, the crystallization rate is enhanced by a factor of about 7–17.     

Crystallization behavior of PVDF in PVDF‐DMP system via thermally induced phase separation

The crystallization behavior of PVDF (poly (vinylidene) fluoride) in PVDF‐dimethylphthalate(DMP) system was investigated in the liquid–liquid (L–L) phase separation region, solid–liquid (S–L) phase separation region and different quenching conditions via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated the crystallinity of PVDF in PVDF‐DMP system increased in the early stage of phase separation and polymer‐rich phase crystallized completely in the late stage of phase separation. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the different quenching temperatures had effects on the spherulite size of polymer rich phase and the ultimate membrane structure in the different phase separation regions. The wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) was used to quantify the crystal structure of PVDF in PVDF‐DMP system. The α‐phase PVDF was obtained when the system quenched to different temperatures above 40°C, and the area of diffraction peaks changed when quenching temperatures changed. While the β‐phase PVDF was formed when PVDF‐DMP system was quenched form liquid nitrogen and crystallized for 24 h in 25°C water bath. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3714–3719, 2006     

Critical role of depressurization and effects of saturation conditions in the formation of β‐Crystal during isotactic polypropylene foaming with supercritical CO2

The melting behavior and crystalline forms of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) samples crystallized under different conditions of pressure and temperature were investigated using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), respectively. When treated with dynamic supercritical CO₂(Sc‐CO₂), iPP samples undergo the formation of β‐crystal that does not occur on the treatment with atmospheric pressure and static supercritical CO₂(Sc‐CO₂) pressure. In addition, the relative content of β‐crystal has deep dependence on melt state and depressurization rate. Depressurization plays very critical role in the formation of β‐crystal by means of imposing three‐dimensional tensile field during cell growth. The tensile field induced α‐row nuclei where the formation of β‐crystal occurred. This finding will provide one new method to induce β‐crystal in iPP parts. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 56:980–986, 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effect of poly(propylene carbonate) on the crystallization and melting behavior of poly(β‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐β‐hydroxyvalerate)

The crystallization and melting behavior of poly(β‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐β‐hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and a 30/70 (w/w) PHBV/poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) blend was investigated with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The transesterification reaction between PHBV and PPC was detected in the melt‐blending process. The interaction between the two macromolecules was confirmed by means of FTIR analysis. During the crystallization process from the melt, the crystallization temperature of the PHBV/PPC blend decreased about 8°C, the melting temperature was depressed by 4°C, and the degree of crystallinity of PHBV in the blend decreased about 9.4%; this was calculated through a comparison of the DSC heating traces for the blend and pure PHBV. These results indicated that imperfect crystals of PHBV formed, crystallization was inhibited, and the crystallization ability of PHBV was weakened in the blend. The equilibrium melting temperatures of PHBV and the 30/70 PHBV/PPC blend isothermally crystallized were 187.1 and 179°C, respectively. The isothermal crystallization kinetics were also studied. The fold surface free energy of the developing crystals of PHBV isothermally crystallized from the melt decreased; however, a depression in the relative degree of crystallization, a reduction of the linear growth rate of the spherulites, and decreases in the equilibrium melting temperature and crystallization capability of PHBV were detected with the addition of PPC. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 2514–2521, 2004     

Crystallization behavior and isothermal crystallization kinetics of PLLA blended with ionic liquid, 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium dibutylphosphate

The crystallization behavior and isothermal crystallization kinetics of neat poly(l ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) and PLLA blended with ionic liquid (IL), 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium dibutylphosphate, were researched by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM), and wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WXRD). Similar to the non‐isothermal crystallization behavior of neat PLLA, when PLLA melt was cooled from 200 to 20°C at a cooling rate of 10°C min^?1, no crystallization peak was detected yet with the incorporation of IL. However, the glass transition temperature and cold crystallization temperature of PLLA gradually decreased with the increase of IL content. It can be attributed to the significant plasticizing effect of IL, which improved the chain mobility and cold crystallization ability of PLLA. Isothermal crystallization kinetics was also analyzed by DSC and described by Avrami equation. For neat PLLA and IL/PLLA blends, the Avrami exponent n was almost in the range of 2.5–3.0. It is found that t_1/2 reduced largely, and the crystallization rate constant k increased exponentially with the incorporation of IL. These results show that the IL could accelerate the overall crystallization rate of PLLA due to its plasticizing effect. In addition, the dependences of crystallization rate on crystallization temperature and IL content were discussed in detail according to the results obtained by DSC and POM measurements. It was verified by WXRD that the addition of IL could not change the crystal structure of PLLA matrix. All samples isothermally crystallized at 100°C formed the α‐form crystal. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41308.     

Effect of HIPS on polymorphism,melting, and crystallization behavior of sPS crystallized dynamically from melting state

Syndiotactic polystyrene/highly‐impact polystyrene (sPS/HIPS) blends were prepared with a twin‐screw extruder. Differential scanning calorimetry and wide angle X‐ray diffractometry were used to investigate the effect of the maximal melting temperature, the content of HIPS and cooling rates on the melting and crystallization behavior and crystal forms of sPS. The experimental results indicated that the addition of low content of HIPS induced the formation of more α‐crystal, whereas the addition of high content of HIPS favored the formation of β‐crystal for sPS/HIPS blends crystallized dynamically from low melting temperature. Both sPS and its blends produced only β‐crystal as crystallized from high melting temperature. The crystallization temperatures of sPS and its blends decreased as the melting temperature increased, favoring the formation of β‐crystal. Higher temperature of sPS crystallization favored the formation of more content of α‐crystal while lower temperature of sPS crystallization produced more content of β‐crystal. Cooling rates showed no significant effect on the crystal form of sPS and its blends, but influenced the melting behavior of both sPS and its bends. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 3353–3361, 2007     

Isothermal melt crystallization and performance evaluation of polylactide/thermoplastic polyester blends with multi‐functional epoxy

A multi‐functional epoxy (ADR) was used to improve compatibilization of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/ thermoplastic polyester elastomer (TPEE) blends. Influence of ADR on isothermal melt crystallization of the blends was investigated. The results show that isothermal melt crystallization rate of the samples increases with ADR loading. It can be attributed to a nucleation enhancement resulted from an increase of molecular weight and melt viscosity created by the chain extension/branched process of PLA in the presence of ADR. In addition, the maximum crystallinity of the samples shows a decrease with increasing ADR loading because of the chain extended and branched reaction. Quenched and crystallized samples were fabricated using compression molding under different cooling conditions in‐mold. Effects of crystallinity and ADR on mechanical performances of the PLA/TPEE sample were investigated. With increasing the crystallinity, the PLA/TPEE sample shows a marked enhancement in heat resistance. However, the tensile ductility of the crystallized PLA/TPEE sample drastically decreases due to the formation of firm crystal crosslinking and the incompatibility between PLA and TPEE. It is notable that the tensile ductility of the crystallized samples is improved with the introduction of ADR owing to its reactive compatibilization effect. Finally, the crystallized PLA/TPEE/ADR samples with improved heat resistance and relative higher ductility are obtained. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46343.