Morphological, barrier and thermo-mechanical properties of high-pressure treated polylactide graphene oxide reinforced composite films

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the impact of high-pressure (HP) treatment (300−600 MPa/15 min) on morphology, thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties of polylactide (PLA)/polyethylene glycol (PEG)/graphene oxide (GO) composite films. The filler concentration relative to PLA was restricted up to 2 wt%, while 10 wt% of PEG was used as a plasticizer. The SEM, AFM, and XRD were employed to investigate the morphology and structure of the pressure-treated films. The glass transition temperature and crystallization temperature of the plasticized PLA composite films were significantly influenced by the loading concentration of GO and the applied pressure. Both tensile stress and elongation at break were significantly altered with the pressurization. The barrier properties were first modified due to the presence of GO, and later by the pressurization. This work demonstrates the limitations of thermo-mechanical, and barrier properties of biodegradable single-layer composite films in the HP environment and provides future directions to improve those properties for industrial applications.