Dynamic Mechanical Properties and Thermal Stability of Poly(lactic Acid) and Poly(butylene Succinate) Blends Composites

Abstract

The blend of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) were prepared and extruded with various compositions and their molded properties were examined. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that thermal stability of the blends was higher than that of pure PLA and the weight loss of PLA/PBS (40/60 wt%) was lower than neat polymers. Differential scanning calorimetry thermograms of blends indicated that the thermal properties of PLA did not change noticeably when blended with PBS. The tensile strength and modulus of blends decreased with the increasing PBS content. But impact strength has improved about two times compared to pure PLA. Rheological results revealed that the addition of 10% and 20% of PBS increased the storage modulus, loss modulus and viscosity of the blend at nearly all frequencies, and decreased viscosity with increasing shear stress. Dynamic mechanical properties results showed the lowering of storage modulus of all blended PLA which indicated the increase of molecular mobility by adding PBS due to lower glass transition.

Toughening of poly(lactic acid) without sacrificing stiffness and strength by melt-blending with polyamide 11 and selective localization of halloysite nanotubes

“…The damping behavior of the material is reduced, because the presence of well dispersed HNTs localized in PA11 fibrils retards the segmental motions of the polymer matrix during the transition, thus resulting in the reduction of sharpness and height of the tan & peak [32,33]. This is in agreement with the significant increase in the elastic component due to the presence of the HNTs in the blends [34]. The other peak appearing at 105°C for the PLA/PA11 blend is due to the cold crystallisation of the PLA.…”

Physical and mechanical properties of PLA, and their functions in widespread applications — A comprehensive review

“…So, it can be anticipated that future developments will keep including blends of PLA, copolymers, and impact-modified products, which will also further expand the applications where this unique polymer can be used. Besides that, we do expect for the nearby future increasing research interest in the following four areas: a) PLA blends stability: recently, several PLA blends based synthetic or natural components have been reported and found very efficient in PLA properties improvement [235,[330][331][332][333][334][335][336][337][338][339][340][341][342][343]. However, very limited attention have been given for studying blends stability under different aging conditions (e.g.…”

Blending poly(butylene succinate) with poly(lactic acid): Ductility and phase inversion effects

“…However, these authors did find a significant improvement in impact strength on addition of 10-20 weight % PBSA but at higher PBSA concentrations impact values dropped down to those of PLA until 100% PBSA was reached. Hassan et al [13] found that strain-to-break of PLA/PBS blends increased gradually with increasing PBS content, although high ductilities were only reached at PBS levels in excess of 80 weight %. Some other authors have investigated the incorporation of compatibilizer to improve the toughness of PBS/PLA blends.…”