The effects of compatibilizer on the morphological, mechanical, rheological, and shape memory properties of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(methyl methacrylate-block-n-butyl acrylate-block-methyl methacrylate) (Poly(MnBM)) (80/20) blend were investigated. From the morphological results, the addition of 1 wt% SAN-MAH as a compatibilizer showed minimum Poly(MnBM) domain size among the blends with the SAN-MAH in the amounts from 0 to 7 wt%. Tensile and flexural strengths, and complex viscosity of the blends showed maximum when the SAN-MAH content was 1 wt%, which suggested the increased compatibility between the PLA and Poly(MnBM) phases. From the above results, the optimum compatibilizer content of the PLA and Poly(MnBM) blend was 1 wt%. The recovery ratio of tensile energy was found to be 83 and 56% for the PLA/Poly(MnBM) blend with and without the SAN-MAH (1 wt%), respectively. Upon blending the PLA and Poly(MnBM) (80/20) with SAN-MAH (1 wt%), the increase of recovered tensile energy was observed, and that the brittleness of PLA was improved to be ductile which resulted an improved shape memory behavior of the blend.
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