A novel hexagonal crystal with a hexagonal star-shaped central core in poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) induced by an ionic liquid

Abstract

A hexagonal crystal with a star-shaped core, a novel crystal morphology never seen before, was found in low molecular weight poly(L-lactide) (LM_w-PLLA) modified by a glycine ester based ionic liquid. The increase in polymer chain mobility, caused by ionic liquid dilution and interaction with polymer chains, induced a morphology transformation from hexagon-shaped ring-banded spherulites to a non-banded hexagonal crystal with a star-shaped core.