Abstract
Cell structure is a key factor that determines the final properties of microcellular polylactide (PLA) product. In the mold opening process, adjusting the rate of mold opening can effectively control cell structure. PLA and PLA composites with a void fraction as high as 50% were fabricated using the mold opening technique. The effects of mold opening rate and the addition of nanoclay on the cell structure, mechanical properties, and surface quality of microcellular PLA and PLA composites samples were investigated. The results showed that finer cell structure was received in the microcellular PLA samples and the surface quality was improved effectively when decreasing the rate of mold opening. The effect of mold opening rate on the foaming behavior of microcellular PLA–nanoclay was the same as that of microcellular PLA. The addition of 5 wt % nanoclay significantly improved the foaming properties, such as cell density, cell size, and structural uniformity, which consequently enhanced the mechanical properties of foams and the surface quality.
Highlights
Polylactide (PLA) is biodegradable, which makes it be a good alternative of the currently used polymer products to solve increasingly serious environmental problems [1,2]
We explored the effect of mold opening rate on the cell structure, mechanical properties, and surface quality of the product
The PLA was in pellet form and had a melt flow index of about 11.2 g/10 min. (210 ◦ C/2.16 kg) with a density of 1.24 g/cm3 and a D-lactide molar content of 4.1%
Summary
Polylactide (PLA) is biodegradable, which makes it be a good alternative of the currently used polymer products to solve increasingly serious environmental problems [1,2]. Microcellular PLA has many advantages, such as low carbon and high specific strength. Nowadays, it has been widely applied in consumer goods and biological, transportation, and architecture parts [3,4]. The structural parameters of the micro pores determine the performance of the material [5], such as cell diameter and density. For PLA products, the diameter and density of the cell was suggested to be about 10 μm and 109 cells/cm , respectively [6]. Controlling the microporous structure is an important method to optimize the performance of the microcellular
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