Abstract
AbstractIn this study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is toughened by blending with natural rubber (NR). In order to induce additional toughening, the hybrid of two clays (natural clay (CNa+) and organically‐modified clay (C20A)) showing different localization in the blend is added to the PLA/NR 70/30 blend. For the blend with CNa+ localized in the PLA matrix, linear viscoelastic response (G′, G″) of the blend does slightly change with the decreased drop size or the coarsening of NR as CNa+ content increases. On the other hand, the addition of C20A brings notable rheological response with a significant change in morphology from co‐continuous structure (< 0.5 wt%) to compatibilized morphology (> 0.5 wt%). With a small amount of clay (0.75 wt%) where G′ and G″ crossover, the mixture of two clays (CNa+/C20A 0.3/0.45 wt%) inducing different morphologies to the blend causes a synergistic effect to form cocontinuous structure, leading to a synergistic elongation at break over 100%. This study shows that the addition of a small amount of clays less than 1 wt% can induce toughening of PLA/NR by morphology control of well‐designed particle localization. Also, linear viscoelasticity analysis is useful to detect a subtle change in blend morphology.
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