Abstract
In this work poly(lactic) acid (PLA)/poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA) biobased binary blends were investigated. PLA/PBSA mixtures with different compositions of PBSA (from 15 up to 40 wt.%) were produced by twin screw-extrusion. A first screening study was performed on these blends that were characterized from the melt fluidity, morphological and thermo-mechanical point of view. Starting from the obtained results, the effect of an epoxy oligomer (EO) (added at 2 wt.%) was further investigated. In this case a novel approach was introduced studying the micromechanical deformation processes by dilatometric uniaxial tensile tests, carried out with a videoextensometer. The characterization was then completed adopting the elasto-plastic fracture approach, by the measurement of the capability of the selected blends to absorb energy at a slow rate. The obtained results showed that EO acts as a good compatibilizer, improving the compatibility of the rubber phase into the PLA matrix. Dilatometric results showed different micromechanical responses for the 80–20 and 60–40 blends (probably linked to the different morphology). The 80–20 showed a cavitational behavior while the 60–40 a deviatoric one. It has been observed that while the addition of EO does not alter the micromechanical response of the 60–40 blend, it profoundly changes the response of the 80–20, that passed to a deviatoric behavior with the EO addition.
Highlights
Plastic materials are used constantly in everyday life thanks to their versatility, low cost and huge range of properties
Among them poly(lactic) acid (PLA) is the most interesting, due to its low production cost, good mechanical properties and easy processability (PLA can be manufactured in conventional extrusion, injection molding, blown film extrusion, cast extrusion, thermoforming and three-dimensional (3D)-printing) [4,5,6,7]
PLA/poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA) blends with different compositions up to 40% of PBSA
Summary
Plastic materials are used constantly in everyday life thanks to their versatility, low cost and huge range of properties. The increment of nondegradable plastic waste has remarkably increased so that 150 million tons of plastic per year are consumed worldwide. This fact, combined with the threat of oil depletion, has led in the last decades to the development of biodegradable plastics based on renewable and nonrenewable resources. Among them poly(lactic) acid (PLA) is the most interesting, due to its low production cost (compared to other biodegradable polymers), good mechanical properties and easy processability (PLA can be manufactured in conventional extrusion, injection molding, blown film extrusion, cast extrusion, thermoforming and three-dimensional (3D)-printing) [4,5,6,7]
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