Morphology evolution of poly(lactic acid) during in situ reaction with poly(butylenesuccinate) and ethylene‐methyl acrylate‐glycidyl methacrylate: The formation of a novel 3D star‐like structure

Abstract

Morphology control of polymer alloys is an attractive topic for investigators due to its ability to improve the performance of products for years. However, it is hard to control the morphology of immiscible polymer blends during melt processing. Herein, we studied the morphology evolution of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) with the inclusion of ethylene‐methyl acrylate‐glycidyl methacrylate (EGMA). Scanning electron microscopy of both cryo‐fractured and etched cryo‐fractured samples indicates that the in situ reaction among PLA, PBS, and EGMA can induce the morphology change and result in a novel 3D star‐like structure. Rheology behaviors of the samples under different angular frequencies were used to validate the formation of 3D networks in the samples. Tensile stiffness reinforcements at both room temperature and high temperature were provided through dynamic mechanical analysis. In addition, a 10‐fold improvement in impact strength is also monitored by the unnotched impact test to indicate the superior toughening effect. Furthermore, the crystalline behavior and thermal properties of the blends were also studied. It is believed that our work not only gives a deeper understanding of the reaction‐induced morphology evolution of the PLA/PBS/EGMA blends but also reveals an avenue toward morphology control by melt processing.

Thermal properties and processability of modified poly(L-lactide): the role of phenylacetic acid hydrazide derivative

“…Figure 9 shows thermal decomposition TGA curves of the virgin PLLA and PLLA/NAPAH in air. Differing from the thermal decomposition TGA curve of NAPAH (see Figure 2), Figure 9 clearly shows that all PLLA/NAPAH samples as the virgin PLLA have only one thermal decomposition stage in heating, and the decomposition temperature focuses on in the temperature region of 300°C to 400°C, which is consistent with the results reported by other works [6,44,45]. After completing aforementioned thermal decomposition, the weight-loss of all samples is almost up to 100%, meaning that the virgin PLLA and four PLLA/NAPAH samples are fully burned in heating.…”

Enhancing Tensile Strength and Toughness via Moderate Orientation of Amorphous Molecular Chains in Biobased Biodegradable Poly(lactic acid)

“…The scanning range was 30 °C–200 °C. The crystallinity of PLA was determined using the following equation. where Δ H f , Δ H cc , and are the melting enthalpy, cold-crystallization enthalpy, and heat of fusion for a 100% crystalline of PLA, respectively.…”

“…Several methods have been developed to improve the toughness of PLA, such as blending with polymeric elastomers − and copolymerization with flexible molecular chains . As one of the most cost-effective methods, blending with polymeric elastomers or tough polymer, such as poly­(butylene adipate- co -terephthalate) (PBAT), ,− poly­(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), ,− poly­(butylene succinate) (PBS), − poly­(propylene carbonate) (PPC), , and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), ,, etc., has been extensively studied. For example, our previous study showed that the PLA/PBS/ethylene-methyl acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate (EGMA) (78/10/12) blend had an impact strength of up to 98 kJ/m 2 , which was almost 32 times that of neat PLA.…”

Supertough, Ultrastrong, and Transparent Poly(lactic acid) via Directly Hot Pressing under Cyclic Compressing–Releasing

“…The first kind of toughening employing a second phase to tough PLA. Herein, both rubbery polymers and nanofillers were included for toughening PLA. − Specifically, to maintain the sustainability of PLA, biodegradable additives, including poly­(butylene succinate) (PBS) − and poly­(butylene adipate- co -terephthalate) (PBAT), , are primarily employed. Although progress has been made and supertough PLA-based composites have been successfully fabricated, the additional component would lead to miscibility issues, as well as mechanical weakness.…”