This paper reports the effects of polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) and graphene nanoplatelet (GNP on tensile stress of various PLA/PP weight ratio. The PLA/PP blends prepared with the ratio 70/30, 80/20, and 90/10 with the addition of PP-g-MA (1 to 5 phr) and GNP (1 to 3 phr) by using an injection molding machine. The tensile stress (MPa) was analyzed based on 11 runs of full factorial design. The results showed that the tensile stress of PLA/PP blends gradually increased after the addition of PP-g-MA and GNP. There is a relationship between PP-g-MA and GNP which causes a positive impact on the mechanical properties of PLA/PP blends. The optimum tensile stress of 50.06 MPa achieved at the ratio of 90/10 blends with 5 phr of PP-g-MA and 3 phr of GNP.

A melt blending of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) with 30:70 PLA:ABS was prepared by a twin screw extruder with a die of 25 mm width and 0.5 mm thickness with various loadings of graphene (0-1.0 wt.%). The PLA/ABS blends were evaluated for mechanical, morphology, thermal properties and interaction of the components in the blend system. Results show the incorporation of graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) improved the tensile and modulus properties. Nevertheless, it was observed that at higher GNP loadings, i.e., 0.6-1.0 wt.%, both tensile and modulus properties showed a decreasing trend. It was also found that the thermal stability for the blend slightly improved when graphene presence in the blend.

This work reports the preparation and characterization of poly(lactic) acid/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/graphene nanoplatelets/Cloisite C20A montmorillonite (PLA/ABS/GnP/C20A) nanocomposites via melt blending. The clay is hybridized with graphene to increase its dispersion in the polymer matrix. The melt processing temperatures play a vital role in the properties of the resulting nanocomposites in dictating the extent of thermal stability and dispersion of the fillers. The hybrid nanocomposites were characterized for stress-strain, thermal, chemical, and morphological properties. The findings were that there was an increase in the mechanical properties in terms of tensile strength and Young's modulus with the PLA/ABS/GnP/C20A at the high-temperature profile having the highest values of 43.1 MPa and 2533 MPa. The elongation at break increases slightly, due to the brittle properties of GnP. It was found that the dispersion of the fillers increased with increasing temperature profiles, as revealed by the morphological analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The void size was also observed to be smaller and more homogenous with increasing temperature. However, in terms of thermal degradation analysis, the addition of fillers increases its thermal stability as the decomposition onset temperature increases by 22.5 8C.

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In this work, plastic bottles made of high-density polyethene (HDPE) have been recycled and blended with poly(lactic acid) (PLA). The aim of the work is to prepare a binary blend of PLA and Recycled HDPE (rHDPE) at 90:10 blend ratio by using a twin-screw extruder. The blends were compression moulded and characterized in terms of mechanical and thermal properties. It was found that the rHDPE increased the tensile modulus of the binary blend. Fracture morphology demonstrated that the blend of rHDPE and PLA is immiscible. In terms of thermal property, as measured by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), the glass transition temperature of the binary blend showed a lower value, whereas the crystallization process was significantly improved.