Abstract
Legislative restrictions and the needs of consumers have created a demand for sustainable materials. Polylactide (PLA) is a biodegradable polyester with advantageous mechanical properties, however, due to its low crystallization rate, it also has low thermomechanical stability. Its range of application temperatures can be widened using nucleating agents and fillers including basalt powder (BP), a waste product from the mining industry. This study analyzed the possibility of enhancing the properties of a PLA-BP composite by chemically treating the filler. Basalt powder was subjected to silanization with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane or γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane and mixed with PLA at 5–20 wt%. The nucleating effect of a potassium salt of 3,5-bis(methoxycarbonyl) (LAK-301) in the silanized composite was also evaluated. The properties of the materials with silanized BP were compared with the unmodified basalt powder. The miscibility of the filler and the polymer was assessed by oscillatory rheometry. The structure of the composites was studied using scanning electron microscopy and their thermomechanical properties were analyzed using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, hardness and impact strength, and heat deflection temperature of the materials were also determined. It was concluded that BP-filled nucleated PLA composites presented satisfactory thermomechanical stability without silanization, but chemical treatment could improve the matrix–filler interactions.
Highlights
Despite the many legislative restrictions and obligations imposed on producers and consumers of plastic products, increasing amounts of polymeric materials end their lifecycle as mixed waste.Mechanical recycling allows for simple and effective management of post-consumer plastics, but in many cases, selective waste collection is not carried out properly, so the waste stream is not recycled [1,2].recycling can delay, but not prevent any existing end-of-life material from reaching final disposal [3,4]
Processing properties of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites filled with various amounts of basalt powder with and without chemical treatment were investigated using torque rheometry
There was a lack of visible changes in the torque induced by changing the filler content, which can be treated as a beneficial effect because increasing the content of the filler does not suppress the processability of the composites
Summary
Despite the many legislative restrictions and obligations imposed on producers and consumers of plastic products, increasing amounts of polymeric materials end their lifecycle as mixed waste.Mechanical recycling allows for simple and effective management of post-consumer plastics, but in many cases, selective waste collection is not carried out properly, so the waste stream is not recycled [1,2].recycling can delay, but not prevent any existing end-of-life material from reaching final disposal [3,4]. Polylactide or poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a polymer from the group of biodegradable/compostable thermoplastic polyesters and is the compound most widely used as a biopolymer [4,5]. It is mainly used in the food and packaging industries [6]. The low thermomechanical stability of PLA results from the low tendency of the polymer to form crystalline structures This problem can be solved by increasing the amounts of the crystalline phase by introducing heterogeneous nucleants and applying appropriate processing and post-processing conditions as well as using both methods while strengthening the polymer by introducing fillers in the form of powders or fibers
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