Abstract: Branched poly(butylene succinate) copolymers (PBS-bge) with different ratios of branch units were synthesized via polycondensation of succinic acid(SA), 1,4-butanediol(BDO), and butyl glycidyl ether(BGE) as the branch monomer. The compositions and crystallization properties of the resulted branched PBS were investigated by 1H-NMR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and polarizing optical microscope (POM). The results suggested that the crystal structure of the branched PBS copolymers hardly changed, but the thermodynamic properties were significantly changed from PBS. The melting temperature(T_m) and the degree of crystallinity(X_c) both decreased with the increase of the BGE units. Isothermal crystallization results showed that Avrami exponents (n) of the PBS-bge reduced to some extent compared with PBS. And the spherulitic morphologies, especially the banded spherulites were greatly affected when the BGE unit ratio was high.

Key words: branched poly(butylene succinate);thermal property, crystallization, synthesis