Isothermal crystallization of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) studied by terahertz two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy

The isothermal crystallization of poly(3-hydroxybutylate) (PHB) was studied by monitoring the temporal evolution of terahertz absorption spectra in conjunction with spectral analysis using two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy. Correlation between the absorption peaks and the sequential order of the changes in spectral intensity extracted from synchronous and asynchronous plots indicated that crystallization of PHB at 90 degrees C is a two step process, in which C-H center dot center dot center dot O=C hydrogen bonds are initially formed before well-defined crystal structures are established. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3673847]