Mechanical, thermal properties and shape memory behaviors of PLA/PCL/PLA‐g‐GMA blends

Abstract

To improve the toughness of polylactic acid (PLA), in this research, a tough polymer polycaprolactone (PCL) was combined with PLA to prepare blends, and a compatibilizer of glycidyl methacrylate grafted PLA (PLA‐g‐GMA) was produced to enhance the compatibility of PLA/PCL blend. Compared with PLA/PCL blend, the compatibilized blend exhibited a lower melting temperature and greater thermal stability. The tensile test indicates that the addition of compatibilizer greatly improved the toughness of the PLA/PCL blend. Particularly, the elongation at break of PLA/PCL blend with 6 wt% PLA‐g‐GMA increased to 370% and reached about 66 times of neat PLA. In addition, compatibilized blends have good shape memory performance. The research provides a simple and feasible method to overcome the brittleness of PLA, supplying a new strategy to modify PLA.

Novel advancements in additive manufacturing of PLA: A review

“…Meanwhile, PNCs have been fabricated with enhanced thermal and electrical conductivity, improved mechanical and thermal expansion, and increased fire retardancy for automotive, oil and gas, and other versatile applications 137–207 . Finally, it is emphasized that 3‐DPT and 4‐DPT are innovative processing technologies, presenting the future route of the manufacturing sector 208–244 …”

Preparation and characterization of thermo‐responsive shape memory polycaprolactone/poly(ethylene‐co‐octene) blends for 4D printing

“…It is always used as the stationary phase in shape memory blends to fix the temporary shape. [19][20][21][22] POE is a type of polyolefin elastomer with excellent energy storage capacity. [23][24][25][26][27] In this work, the respective properties of PCL and POE were combined by melt blending, and the blends exhibit desirable mechanical properties while retaining excellent elasticity.…”

Super Toughened PLLA/PBAT Blends with Modified Phase Interface via Constructing Cocontinuous Structure with the Aid of Stereocomplex Crystallites Toward Preparation of a Fully Degradable Material

“…However, the inherent poor elongation at break and low notched impact strength of PLA limit its further development. Research studies on preparing toughness PLA mainly focus on blending with various flexible polymers, such as poly­(butylene adipate- co -terephthalate) (PBAT), polycaprolactone (PCL), polybutylene succinate (PBS), and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) . Among them, relatively low cost and biodegradable PBAT is regarded as a promising choice to toughen PLA.…”