Reactive modification and compatibilization of poly(lactide) and poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) blends with epoxy functionalized‐poly(lactide) for blown film applications

Abstract

Biodegradable blown films comprising of poly(lactide) (PLA) and poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT) were produced using epoxy functionalized‐poly(lactide) (EF‐PLA) reactive modifiers for rheological enhancement and compatibilization. The epoxy groups on the EF‐PLA modifiers react with PBAT forming an in situ copolymer that localizes at the blend interphase resulting in compatibilization of the polymer blend components. The EF‐PLA modified polymer blends have improved melt strength and the resultant films showed better processability as seen by increased bubbled stability. This allowed for blown films with higher PLA content (70%) compared to the unmodified control films (40%). The static charge build‐up typically experienced with PLA film blowing was decreased with the inclusion of EF‐PLA yielding films with better slip and softness. The compatibilization effect of the EF‐PLA modifiers resulted in significant improvement in mechanical properties. For example, dart test performance was up to four times higher than the control, especially at higher PLA concentrations. Therefore, the rheological enhancement and compatibilization effects of the EF‐PLA reactive modifiers make them ideally suited to create high PLA content films. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43310.

The Mechanical, Thermal, Rheological and Morphological Properties of PLA/PBAT Blown Films by Using Bis(tert‐butyl dioxy isopropyl) Benzene as Crosslinking Agent

“…showed the results of SEM micrographs. It was well‐known that PLA/PBAT was immiscible because of the poor adhesive attraction . As we can see from Fig.…”

“…In the past decade, increasing attention has been paid to the biodegradable polymers because of their renewable resources and friendly impact on the environment. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a biobased and biodegradable/compostable polymer derived from corn . PLA is a promising aliphatic polyester in these biosourced polymers owing to its relatively high mechanical strength, excellent optical properties, and processability .…”

“…Nevertheless, some properties of PLA, such as the brittleness, the slow rate of crystallization and the hydrolysis, and so on, have limited its application. Hence, a lot of studies have been done to modify PLA and improve the brittleness of PLA, for example, compounding with poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT) , poly(ε‐capro‐lactone) , poly(butylene succinate) , and poly(ethylene oxide) . PBAT is a biodegradable aliphatic–aromatic co‐polyester, produced from fossil resources, consisting of two types of comonomer, a rigid BT segment (butylene terephthalate) consisting of 1,4‐butanediol and terephthalic acid monomers, whereas the flexible BA section (butylene adipate) consisting of 1,4‐butanediol and adipic acid monomers .…”

Degradation and Recycling of Films Based on Biodegradable Polymers: A Short Review

“…Schneider et al [92] prepared blown films from PLA and PBAT were produced using an epoxy functionalized-poly(lactide) (EF-PLA) in order to provide some degree of compatibilization (through the epoxy groups reacting with the PBAT) as well as an improvement of the rheological properties. They found that the compatibilizer enhanced the melt strength, thus allowing use of higher PLA amounts (up to 70%) and especially to have higher bubble stability.…”

Reactive extrusion of bio-based polymer blends and composites – Current trends and future developments

“…These observations corresponded with the results presented by Arruda et al [107] who studied PLA/PBAT blends compatibilized by chain extender Joncryl ® (BASF). Recently, Schneider et al [108] used epoxy functionalized-PLA (EF-PLA) as reactive modifier for PLA/PBAT blends. During reactive extrusion in-situ copolymerization takes place between the epoxy groups present in the EF-PLA modifier and carbonylend groups in PBAT resulting in strong interphase adhesion between blended components and consequently improve mechanical, rheological and morphological properties of PLA/PBAT blends.…”