A study on hydrogen bonding and crystal structure of low molecular weight poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K05629
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Polymer/Textile materials
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Sato Harumi 神戸大学, 人間発達環境学研究科, 准教授 (10288558)
• Research Collaborator: Ozaki Yukihiro 関西学院大学, 理工学研究科, 教授 (00147290) ; Yamamoto Shigeki 大阪大学, 理学研究科, 助教 (60552784)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 水素結合 / 生分解性ポリマー / 分子量依存性 / ラメラ構造

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)is biodegradable polyesters synthesized by numerous bacteria as intracellular carbon and energy storage compounds. Infrared, Raman, and THz spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) studies were carried out to explore crystallization behavior and hudrogen bonding of low molecular weight PHB. Low Molecular weight PHB (Mn= 1000 and 2000) are crystallized without molecular chain folding. It was shown that the crystallization behavior is affected by the presence of a chain folding structure. In the case where the molecular chain is short and does not form a folded structure, the hydrogen bonding becomes a driving force for orienting the molecular chain to form a crystal structure, and when the molecular weight of PHB is larger than 2000-3000, the hydrogen bonding stabilizes the crystal structure.

Free Research Field

高分子化学