近日，中国石油大学叶海木团队报道了商品糖醇通过分子间相互作用和外延模板相结合提高聚琥珀酸乙烯的成核和结晶能力。相关论文于2026年2月2日发表在《中国高分子科学杂志》上。

聚丁二酸乙二醇酯（PES）是一种具有成本优势且前景广阔的可生物降解聚酯，但其固有的缓慢结晶动力学严重限制了其加工性能与实际应用。

为应对这一挑战，研究组探索使用商业可得、低成本且食品安全的山梨糖醇（Xylitol, Xy）、D-山梨醇（D-sorbitol, DS）和D-甘露醇（D-mannitol, DM）作为PES的高效成核剂。研究发现，这三种多元醇均能显著提升PES的成核与结晶能力，其中DM的效果最为突出。仅添加0.5质量分数的DM，即可使PES的结晶温度最高提升23.9°C，总结晶速率加快13倍以上。

通过差示扫描量热法、偏光显微镜和广角X射线衍射的综合分析，研究组揭示了DM通过双机制促进PES结晶：一方面依靠优异的晶格匹配实现外延模板作用，另一方面通过分子间氢键相互作用增强链段调整能力。相比之下，Xy与DS主要依赖氢键相互作用发挥作用。该工作不仅证实了DM是一种高效、经济且具有工业应用价值的PES成核剂，还为理解成核剂分子结构及其结晶能力在调控聚合物结晶过程中的作用提供了理论基础。

附：英文原文

Title: Commercial Sugar Alcohol Boosts Nucleation and Crystallization Ability of Poly(ethylene succinate) via Combination of Intermolecular Interactions and Epitaxial Templating

Author: Hao-Ting Yin, Dong-Yuan Ye, Wei Zhao, Xue-Wei Wei, Xiao-Yu Meng, Hai-Mu Ye

Issue&Volume: 2026-02-02

Abstract: Poly(ethylene succinate) (PES), a promising biodegradable polyester with cost advantages, suffers from inherently slow crystallization kinetics, which severely limits its processability and practical applications. To address this challenge, this study explored the use of commercially available, low-cost, and food-safe sugar alcohols, including Xylitol (Xy), D-sorbitol (DS), and D-mannitol (DM), as effective nucleating agents for PES. Remarkably, all three polyols significantly enhanced the nucleation and crystallization ability of PES, with DM exhibiting the most pronounced effect. DM increased the crystallization temperature by up to 23.9 °C and accelerated the overall crystallization rate by more than 13-fold at only 0.5 wt% loading level. Through a combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) analyses, we revealed that DM promotes PES crystallization via a dual mechanism: epitaxial templating facilitated by excellent lattice matching, and enhanced chain adjustment through intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions. In contrast, Xy and DS primarily function through hydrogen-bonding interactions. This work not only identifies DM as a highly efficient, economical, and industrially viable nucleating agent for PES, but also provides fundamental insights into the role of the molecular structure and crystallization ability of nucleating agents in regulating polymer crystallization.

DOI: 10.1007/s10118-025-3539-8

Source: https://www.cjps.org/en/article/doi/10.1007/s10118-025-3539-8/