The influence of the dispersed phase on the morphology, mechanical and thermal properties of PLA/PE‐LD and PLA/PE‐HD polymer blends and their nanocomposites with TiO₂ and CaCO₃

Abstract

This research investigated the impact of different processing temperature (extrusion at 160°C and 180°C) and the influence of the TiO2 and CaCO3 fillers on morphology, mechanical, and thermal properties of polylactide (PLA) blended with low‐density polyethylene (PE‐LD) and high‐density polyethylene (PE‐HD) in 90/10 weight ratio. The impact of the particle size of the filler was also examined with the three types of TiO2 filler. It has been shown that the different processing temperature has no significant impact on the morphology, mechanical, and thermal properties of PLA/PE‐LD 90/10 and PLA/PE‐HD 90/10 polymer blends. It has also been shown that better phase interaction is not the crucial factor for the improvement of the mechanical properties but the domain size distribution of the dispersed phase within the matrix and the dispersion of the filler are. Samples with a narrow size distribution of the dispersed phase domain (5 to 10 μm) with the higher portion of larger domains that are uniformly distributed within the polymer matrix showed best mechanical properties. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:1395–1408 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers

Compatibilization and Characterization of Polylactide and Biopolyethylene Binary Blends by Non-Reactive and Reactive Compatibilization Approaches

“…After physical blending of PLA with 20 wt % of bioPE, the crystallinity of the PLA-rich phase increased to 52%. This increase in the crystallinity of the PLA-rich phase in the PLA-bioPE blend is due to the presence of bioPE domains, which increase the mobility of the PLA polymer chains, thus allowing the arrangement of the polymer chains during crystallization [59]. As can be seen, the addition of the different compatibilizers in the PLA-bioPE blend resulted in a remarkable decrease in the crystallinity of the PLA-rich phase with respect to the crystallinity of the PLA-rich phase of the uncompatibilized blend.…”

The lanolin‐based oil plasticized polylactide: Thermal and chemical characteristics

“…Polylactide is used extensively for additive manufacturing (3D printing) packaging, with unparalleled growth in textiles, electronics, automobiles, and biomedical applications. [ 2–4 ] Some significant medical applications include cardiac, dental orthopedics, and tissue engineering. [ 4 ] Also, PLA offers great potential in the fabrication of fiber‐reinforced plastic composites.…”

Modification of Surface Hydrophobicity of PLA/PE and ABS/PE Polymer Blends by ICP Etching and CFx Coating

“…These findings are confirmed with the SEM micrographs given in Figures 5 and 6. In our previous research [31], SEM micrographs have shown that domains of PE-LD, as well as PE-HD were dispersed in the PLA matrix and PLA was dispersed in PE matrix when PE amount was higher. These results indicated an immiscibility of the two phases.…”

“…Previous research on PLA/PE-LD and PLA/PE-HD polymer blends, where thermal properties of the selected samples were determined by the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and SEM characterization were conducted, has shown that PLA and PE-LD as well as PLA and PE-HD in 90/10 ratio are both immiscible blends, with high crystallization degree and no interaction between dispersed (polyethylene) phase and the matrix (PLA) [31].…”