Innovative Bio-based Poly(Lactic Acid)/Poly(Alkylene Furanoate)s Fiber Blends for Sustainable Textile Applications

Davide Perin,Dimitrios N Bikiaris,Andrea Dorigato,Giulia Fredi,Daniele Rigotti,George Z Papageorgiou

doi:10.1007/s10924-021-02161-y

Abstract

This work aims at producing and investigating, for the first time, the microstructural and thermo-mechanical properties of fibers constituted by poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(alkylene furanoate)s (PAFs) blends for textile applications. Two different PAFs have been investigated, i.e., poly(octylene furanoate) (P8F) and poly(dodecylene furanoate) (P12F), which have been blended with PLA in different concentrations and spun through a lab-made wet spinning device. The microstructural investigation of the fiber cross-section evidenced domains of PAFs homogeneously dispersed within the PLA matrix. The immiscibility of the produced blends was also suggested by the fact that the glass transition temperature of PLA was unaffected by the presence of PAF. The thermal stability of PLA was not substantially influenced by the PAF content, whereas the water absorption tendency decreased with an increase in P12F fraction. The mechanical properties of PLA/P8F blends decreased with the P8F amount, while for PLA/P12F fiber blends the stiffness and the strength were approximatively constant by increasing the P12F content. The drawing process, performed at 70 °C and with two different draw ratios, brought an interesting increase in the mechanical properties of PLA fibers upon P12F introduction. These promising results constitute the basis for future research on these innovative bio-based fibers.

Highlights

It is well known that the problem of plastic pollution has recently attracted increasing scientific and popular concerns [1]
During the first stage of the spinning process, the lateral surface of the fiber will be composed of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) since it is more prone to coagulation in comparison to poly(alkylene furanoate)s (PAFs) and PAF domains tend to aggregate in the chloroform-rich region of the fibers by the fact that they are less soluble in comparison to PLA
PAF domains tend to be concentrated in the center of the fiber by the fact that they act as filler inside the PLA matrix, and as reported in literature, the fillers in an extrusion process tend to be concentrated in the center of the fiber rather than in the outer surface [59, 60]

Summary

Introduction

It is well known that the problem of plastic pollution has recently attracted increasing scientific and popular concerns [1]. PLA is a biopolymer exhibiting high tensile modulus (approximately 3 GPa), good mechanical strength (higher than 60 MPa), high workability, and higher transparency in comparison to other biopolymers, showing a compostable and recyclable nature [7]. For all these reasons it has been intensively studied as a possible substitute for traditional matrices in composite materials and in packaging applications [18,19,20]. PEF presents improved gas barrier properties in comparison to PET, good thermal and mechanical resistance, but it shows a brittle behavior at room temperature. By increasing the alkyl chain length the resulting polymers will exhibit a more ductile behavior and they could be applied for packaging applications [35]

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