A quest for revisiting analysis of polycaprolactone crystallinity

Abstract

Polycaprolactone (PCL) has become the most widely studied biodegradable polymer over the past 100 years. Central to this utility is its semicrystalline nature. Crystallinity is among the most important fundamental properties in materials science. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is routinely used to evaluate polymer crystallinity. This requires the use of reference data for the melting enthalpy of the hypothetical entirely crystalline polymer. These data have been acquired, by necessity, using extrapolation techniques and are variably reported for PCL. The scientific community would benefit from revisiting methods to obtain objective reference values to avoid inaccuracies and compromised data sets. Here we present proposed methodologies in this direction, based on current literature, along with perspectives on the importance of this topic for the greater research community.