High-pressure rheological analysis of CO2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone)

High-pressure rheology has been used to assess the effects of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) on the melting point (Tm) and viscosity of poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) over a range of temperatures and pressures up to 300 bar over a wide range of shear rates. Plots of the storage and loss moduli ag...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Curia, Silvio, De Focatiis, Davide S.A., Howdle, Steven M.
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45413/
_version_ 1848797126561103872
author Curia, Silvio
De Focatiis, Davide S.A.
Howdle, Steven M.
author_facet Curia, Silvio
De Focatiis, Davide S.A.
Howdle, Steven M.
author_sort Curia, Silvio
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description High-pressure rheology has been used to assess the effects of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) on the melting point (Tm) and viscosity of poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) over a range of temperatures and pressures up to 300 bar over a wide range of shear rates. Plots of the storage and loss moduli against temperature show a significant shift of Tm to lower temperatures in the presence of CO2, indicating that the polymer crystals melt at temperatures much lower than the ambient pressure Tm. Furthermore, a significant decrease in the viscosity of two PCL grades with different molecular weight (Mn ~ 10 kDa and 80 kDa) was also detected upon increasing the CO2 pressure to 300 bar. Experimental viscosity data were fitted to the Carreau model to quantify the extent of the plasticising effects on the zero-shear viscosity and relaxation time under different conditions. Similar analyses were conducted under high-pressure nitrogen, to compare the effects obtained in the presence of a non-plasticising gas.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:58:55Z
format Article
id nottingham-45413
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:58:55Z
publishDate 2015
publisher Elsevier
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-454132020-05-04T17:13:26Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45413/ High-pressure rheological analysis of CO2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone) Curia, Silvio De Focatiis, Davide S.A. Howdle, Steven M. High-pressure rheology has been used to assess the effects of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) on the melting point (Tm) and viscosity of poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) over a range of temperatures and pressures up to 300 bar over a wide range of shear rates. Plots of the storage and loss moduli against temperature show a significant shift of Tm to lower temperatures in the presence of CO2, indicating that the polymer crystals melt at temperatures much lower than the ambient pressure Tm. Furthermore, a significant decrease in the viscosity of two PCL grades with different molecular weight (Mn ~ 10 kDa and 80 kDa) was also detected upon increasing the CO2 pressure to 300 bar. Experimental viscosity data were fitted to the Carreau model to quantify the extent of the plasticising effects on the zero-shear viscosity and relaxation time under different conditions. Similar analyses were conducted under high-pressure nitrogen, to compare the effects obtained in the presence of a non-plasticising gas. Elsevier 2015-07-09 Article PeerReviewed Curia, Silvio, De Focatiis, Davide S.A. and Howdle, Steven M. (2015) High-pressure rheological analysis of CO2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone). Polymer, 69 . pp. 17-24. ISSN 0032-3861 Poly(ε-caprolactone) Supercritical CO2 Rheology http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032386115004681?via%3Dihub doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2015.05.026 doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2015.05.026
spellingShingle Poly(ε-caprolactone)
Supercritical CO2
Rheology
Curia, Silvio
De Focatiis, Davide S.A.
Howdle, Steven M.
High-pressure rheological analysis of CO2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone)
title High-pressure rheological analysis of CO2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone)
title_full High-pressure rheological analysis of CO2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone)
title_fullStr High-pressure rheological analysis of CO2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone)
title_full_unstemmed High-pressure rheological analysis of CO2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone)
title_short High-pressure rheological analysis of CO2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone)
title_sort high-pressure rheological analysis of co2-induced melting point depression and viscosity reduction of poly(ε-caprolactone)
topic Poly(ε-caprolactone)
Supercritical CO2
Rheology
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45413/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45413/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45413/