Processing Conditions, Thermal and Mechanical Responses of Stretchable Poly (Lactic Acid)/Poly (Butylene Succinate) Films

Abstract

Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) based films containing two different plasticizers [Acetyl Tributyl Citrate (ATBC) and isosorbide diester (ISE)] at three different contents (15 wt %, 20 wt % and 30 wt %) were produced by extrusion method. Thermal, morphological, mechanical and wettability behavior of produced materials was investigated as a function of plasticizer content. Filmature parameters were also adjusted and optimized for different formulations, in order to obtain similar thickness for different systems. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) results and evaluation of solubility parameter confirmed that similar miscibility was obtained for ATBC and ISE in PLA, while the two selected plasticizers resulted as not efficient for plasticization of PBS, to the limit that the PBS–30ATBC resulted as not processable. On the basis of these results, isosorbide-based plasticizer was considered a suitable agent for modification of a selected blend (PLA/PBS 80:20) and two mixing approaches were used to identify the role of ISE in the plasticization process: results from mechanical analysis confirmed that both produced PLA–PBS blends (PLA85–ISE15)–PBS20 and (PLA80–PBS20)–ISE15 could guarantee advantages in terms of deformability, with respect to the PLA80–PBS20 reference film, suggesting that the promising use of these stretchable PLA–PBS based films plasticized with isosorbide can provide novel solutions for food packaging applications.

Development of Injection-Molded Polylactide Pieces with High Toughness by the Addition of Lactic Acid Oligomer and Characterization of Their Shape Memory Behavior

“…It is also worthy to mention that the PLA piece containing 20 wt% OLA showed a decrease in impact strength in comparison with the other OLA-containing PLA pieces, thus suggesting certain OLA saturation in the PLA matrix. In this regard, Fortunati et al [56] reported the use of isosorbide diester (ISE) as plasticizer for PLA. It was observed plasticizer saturation at 20 wt% ISE and this was attributed to a limitation of T g decrement.…”

Thermal behaviors and characteristics of polylactide/poly(butylene succinate) blend films via reactive compatibilization and plasticization

“…Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), a linear aliphatic polyester produced from 1,4‐butanediol and succinic acid via 2 steps of polycondensation, is a semicrystalline polymer . Poly(butylene succinate) has high impact toughness, good flexibility and chemical resistance, and biodegradability in a few weeks . These characteristics enable the use of PBS in biomedical products, packaging, films, and mulch.…”

Processing of Thermoplastic PLA/Cellulose Nanomaterials Composites

“…polylactic acid (PLA), poly(caprolactone) (PCL), poly(butylene adipate terephthalate) (PBAT), polyhydroxy alkanoates (PHAs) etc.) has received tremendous interest as alternative substitution for petroleum-based polymers towards a wide variety of applications because of the stringent environmental legislations [3,[6][7][8] in place in several countries. This is owing to their unique features, such as eco-friendliness, biocompatibility and ease of processability.…”

“…For instance, when PLLA content is higher than 90% it tends to be highly crystalline, while melting temperature (Tm) and glass transition temperature (Tg) decrease on decreasing PLLA content. Table 1 presents the main physical properties of PLA-based polymers [3,[6][7][8][9].…”

“…PLA has been exploited in various fields, such as packaging and biomedical with regard to its biodegradability and biocompatibility. There are, however, some limitations that hinders its success, such as: slow crystallization, low glass transition and brittleness [3,7].…”