Abstract. This paper focuses on the crystalline structure of injection moulding grade poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and the effect of crystalline structure on the processing. The research is induced by the significant differences in crystallinity of the pure PLA resin, and the injection moulded product, and thus the reprocessing of PLA products. 2 mm thick PLA sheets were injection moulded and re-crystallized in a conventional oven at 60-140°C, for 10-60 minutes to achieve various crystalline contents. The properties of these sheets were investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). In a processing plant the rejected parts are recycled and reused as raw material for further cycles, accordingly the various crystalline content PLA products were reprocessed as a resin, to investigate the processing itself. When PLA products are reprocessed, due to the adherent feature of amorphous PLA processing difficulties may occur. This adherent effect of the amorphous PLA was investigated and characterized.

Effect of crystalline forms (α' and α) of Poly(lactic acid) on its mechanical, thermo-mechanical, heat deflection temperature and creep properties

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In aqueous solutions under mild conditions, [Ru(H(2)O)(6)](2+) was reacted with various water-soluble tertiary phosphines. As determined by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, reactions with the sulfonated arylphosphines L =mtppms, ptppms and mtppts yielded only the mono- and bisphosphine complexes, [Ru(H(2)O)(5)L](2+), cis-[Ru(H(2)O)(4)L(2)](2+), and trans-[Ru(H(2)O)(4)L(2)](2+) even in a high ligand excess. With the small aliphatic phosphine L = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphatricyclo-[3.3.1.1(3,7)]decane (pta) at [L]:[Ru]= 12:1, the tris- and tetrakisphosphino species, [Ru(H(2)O)(3)(pta)(3)](2+), [Ru(H(2)O)(2)(pta)(4)](2+), [Ru(H(2)O)(OH)(pta)(4)](+), and [Ru(OH)(2)(pta)(4)] were also detected, albeit in minor quantities. These results have significance for the in situ preparation of Ru(II)-tertiary phosphine catalysts. The structures of the complexes trans-[Ru(H(2)O)(4)(ptaMe)(2)](tos)(4)x2H(2)O, trans-[Ru(H(2)O)(4)(ptaH)(2)](tos)(4)[middle dot]2H(2)O, and trans-mer-[RuI(2)(H(2)O)(ptaMe)(3)]I(3)x2H(2)O, containing protonated or methylated pta ligands (ptaH and ptaMe, respectively) were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction.

Abstract. This paper focuses on the reinforcing of Poly(lactic acid) with chopped basalt fibres by using silane treated and untreated basalt fibres. Composite materials with 5-10-15-20-30-40 wt% basalt fibre contents were prepared from silane sized basalt fibres using extrusion, and injection moulding, while composites with 5-10-15 wt% basalt fibre contents were also prepared by using untreated basalt fibres as control. The properties of the injection moulded composites were extensively examined by using quasi-static (tensile, three-point bending) and dynamic mechanical tests (notched and unnotched Charpy impact tests), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), heat deflection temperature (HDT) analysis, dimensional stability test, as well as melt flow index (MFI) analysis and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observations. It was found that silane treated chopped basalt fibres are much more effective in reinforcing Poly(lactic acid) than natural fibres; although basalt fibres are not biodegradable but they are still considered as natural (can be found in nature in the form of volcanic rocks) and biologically inert. It is demonstrated in this paper that by using basalt fibre reinforcement, a renewable and natural resource based composite can be produced by injection moulding with excellent mechanical properties suitable even for engineering applications. Finally it was shown that by using adequate drying of the materials, composites with higher mechanical properties can be achieved compared to literature data.

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The motive of this study is to lessen the dependence on nondegradable plastic packaging by developing alternative material; reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with kenaf fiber (KF) biocomposite using available plastic processing machineries. For that reason, this study focuses on fabrication of PLA-KF biocomposite using intermeshing co-rotating twin-screw extruder and then injection molded for mechanical characterization. The effect of KF loading from 0 to 20 wt% was studied. No coupling agent was added due to high affinity of PLA and KF and both components are hydrophilic in nature. The average of KF aspect ratio is 30. Tensile properties and flexural properties show similar trend where significant improvement was attained at 20 wt% KF content. Scanning electron micrograph of tensile fracture specimen has revealed the hypothesis of interaction between fiber and matrix which subsequently amplified the tensile properties. It is an interesting finding where the experimental value of tensile modulus was 15% higher than theoretical tensile modulus at 20 wt% KF. Additionally, PLA-KF bicomposite produced, has high specific strength and specific modulus. This could suggest that KF may be incorporated into PLA to reduce mass of the end product and substantially reduce the cost of raw materials. As expected, impact strength however decreases with KF content.