In recent years, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has attracted more and more attention as one of the most promising biobased and biodegradable polymers. However, the inherent brittleness significantly limits its wide application. Here, ternary blends of PLA, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) with various amounts of ethylene-methyl acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate (EMA-GMA) terpolymer were fabricated through reactive melt blending in order to improve the toughness of PLA. The effect of different addition amounts of EMA-GMA on the mechanical properties, interfacial compatibility and phase morphology of PLA/PCL blends were studied. The reactions between the epoxy groups of EMA-GMA and carboxyl and hydroxyl end groups of PLA and PCL were investigated thorough a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). The miscibility and thermal behavior of the blends were studied through a dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The phase morphology and impact fracture surface of the blends were also investigated through a scanning electron microscope (SEM). With the addition of 8 phr EMA-GMA, a PLA/PCL (90 wt %:10 wt %)/EMA-GMA ternary blend presenting a suitable multiple stacked phase structure with an optimum interfacial adhesion exhibited an elongation at break of 500.94% and a notched impact strength of 64.31 kJ/m2 with a partial break impact behavior. Finally, the toughening mechanism of the supertough PLA based polymers have been established based on the above analysis.

We report herein an effective strategy for recognizing of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) molecules at the surface of graphene polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites. The imprinted template was synthesized using picric acid as a template analogue for the explosive. The recognition sites were generated by the extraction of the imprinting template from GN-PANI-molecularly imprinted polymer film. The morphology of preparing films was investigated using scanning electronic microscopy images. The differential pulse voltammograms and cyclic voltammograms were used for TNT detection. The results reported here could form the basis of a new strategy for preparing various polymercoating layers on PANI supports and the molecular imprinting techniques discussed could also find applications in the fields of separation and environmental monitoring.

Nanofiller zirconium phosphate (ZrP) and ethylene-methyl acrylate–glycidyl methacrylate copolymer (EMA–GMA) were introduced into poly(lactic acid) (PLA) through reactive melt-blending method to improve its toughness. The impact strength of PLA/EMA–GMA/ZrP (82/15/3) nanocomposites was improved about 22 times that of pure PLA to 65.5 kJ/m2. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis indicated there were compatibilization reactions between the components. The miscibility and thermal behavior of the blends were investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetric (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied to observe the fractured surface and phase morphology to study the toughness mechanism. A typical core–shell morphology, ZrP wrapped by EMA–GMA phase, was observed in the nanocomposites, which can cause plastic deformations. The supertough effect of the compound was mainly confirmed by effective interfacial compatibilization and massive shear-yielding deformation achieved by the synergy of EMA–GMA with ZrP in the PLA matrix.

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