Abstract
A biopolymer of polylactic acid (PLLA)/polypropylene carbonate (PPC)/poly (3-hydroxybutrate) (PHB)/triethyl citrate (TEC) blends was prepared by the solution-casting method at different proportions. The thermal characteristics were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry (TG). PHB and TEC were added to improve the interfacial adhesion, crystallization behavior, and mechanical properties of the immiscible blend from PLLA and PPC (20%). The addition of more than 20% of PPC as an amorphous part hindered the crystallization of PLLA. PPC, PHB, and TEC also interacted with the PLLA matrix, which reduced the glass transition temperature (Tg), the cold crystallization temperature (Tcc), and the melting point (Tm) to about 53, 57 and 15 °C, respectively. The Tg shifted from 60 to 7 °C; therefore, the elongation at break improved from 6% (pure PLLA) to 285% (PLLA blends). In this article, biomembranes of PLLA with additives were developed and made by an electrospinning process. The new generation from biopolymer membranes can be used to absorb suspended pollutants in the water, which helps in the purification of drinking water in the household.
Highlights
Important research has been undertaken to mix polylactic acid (PLLA) with various natural fibers such as silk, and sisal fibers [1], biopolymers such as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) [2], poly(PCL) [3], poly (PBC) [4], as well as fillers such as titanium dioxide [5], calcium carbonate [6], and zinc oxide [7]
It has been added as a compatibilizer such as maleic anhydride to improve the miscibility of PLLA blends, and improve the mechanical properties
The miscibility of the PLLA/Polypropylene carbonate (PPC)/PHB/triethyl citrate (TEC) blends was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) from the first run, the cooling run from melting, and the second run from cooling at a heating rate of 10 ◦ C·min−1
Summary
Important research has been undertaken to mix polylactic acid (PLLA) with various natural fibers such as silk, and sisal fibers [1], biopolymers such as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) [2], poly (caprolactone)(PCL) [3], poly (butylene carbonate) (PBC) [4], as well as fillers such as titanium dioxide [5], calcium carbonate [6], and zinc oxide [7]. The mechanical properties of PLLA have not improved. Some interesting results in miscible PLLA blends and others were immiscible with poor mechanical properties. All of the attempts found that the elongation at break of PLLA blends was very low with limited applications in industry. It is necessary to find a method to improve the mechanical properties of PLLA that can be more economical and effective in fabrication, which was the general purpose of this study. PLLA has been greatly considered, as it is biodegradable as well as non-toxic to the environment and the human body [9]. PLLA is brittle and has very low elasticity, which limits its application as a general
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