Energetics of association in poly(lactic acid)-based hydrogels with crystalline and nanoparticle-polymer junctions

We report the energetics of association in polymeric gels with two types of junction points: crystalline hydrophobic junctions and polymer-nanoparticle junctions. Time-temperature superposition (TTS) of small-amplitude oscillatory rheological measurements was used to probe crystalline poly(L-lactide) (PLLA)-based gels with and without added laponite nanoparticles. For associative polymer gels, the activation energy derived from the TTS shift factors is generally accepted as the associative strength or energy needed to break a junction point. Our systems were found to obey TTS over a wide temperature range of 15-70 °C. For systems with no added nanoparticles, two distinct behaviors were seen, with a transition occurring at a temperature close to the glass transition temperature of PLLA, T(g). Above T(g), the activation energy was similar to the PLLA crystallization enthalpy, suggesting that the activation energy is related to the energy needed to pull a PLLA chain out of the crystalline domain. Below T(g), the activation energy is expected to be the energy required to increase mobility of the polymer chains and soften the glassy regions of the PLLA core. Similar behavior was seen in the nanocomposite gels with added laponite; however, the added clay appears to reduce the average value of the activation enthalpy. This confirms our SAXS results and suggests that laponite particles are participating in the network structure.