Modification of poly(lactic acid)/poly(propylene carbonate) blends through melt compounding with maleic anhydride

Abstract

Maleic anhydride (MA) is incorporated into poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) blends to modify its properties through melt compounding. It is interesting to note that the toughness of PLA/PPC blends can be improved by 1355% while the strength is almost kept constant by adding very low content (as low as 0.9%) of MA into the blends. However, higher MA content in the blends leads to decrease in strength and further increase in toughness indicating an obvious plasticizing effect, while MA is shown to have no effect on the toughness of neat PLA. Rheological, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) studies have been carried out to understand the above results. It is believed that the improvement in mechanical performance originated from the largely retained molecular weight of PPC and improved interfacial interaction after processing. And relative large amount of MA in the blends is shown to mainly plasticize the PPC phase rather than the PLA phase. Such an effective method could provide PLA based biodegradable polymer blends with novel properties for industrial applications

Modification of Lignin with Silane Coupling Agent to Improve the Interface of Poly(L-lactic) Acid/Lignin Composites

“…Poly(lactic acid) (PLA), which is a racemic mixture, is one of the most promising biopolymers commercially available today (Li et al 2003;Bhardwaj and Mohanty 2007). It is primarily produced via the ring-opening polymerization of lactides, which themselves are derived from agricultural products such as corn, beet, or rice (Yao et al 2011). PLA is also considered easy to process in industrial plastic applications (Rangari and Vasanthan 2012).…”

Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Toughened Poly(L-lactic) Acid and Lignin Blends

“…Compared with other such kinds of materials, PLA shows better tensile strength and processing properties and is the most promising bio-based polymer commercially available in the market (Li et al 2003). Commercial PLA is synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of lactides, which are the cyclic dimer of lactic acids and are typically derived from renewable resources such as corn, sugar beets, and rice (Yao 2011). In addition, poly(lactic acid) is nontoxic to the human body and the environment (Chen et al 2013), degradable, easy to fabricate, and has a high degree of transparency (Rangari and Vasanthan 2012).…”

Improving interfacial adhesion in pla/wood biocomposites

“…It is produced from natural feedstock, compostable, have good stiffness and strength, and increasing production capacities even decreased its price somewhat [3]. Besides its advantages PLA has also some drawbacks thus it is modified through different approaches including plasticization [4], blending [5,6] and reinforcing with fibers [7,8]. PLA/wood fiber composites offer the possibility to achieve an advantageous property profile at a reasonable price.…”