Thermoforming of Polylactic Acid Foam Sheets: Crystallization Behaviors and Thermal Stability

Abstract

Biobased polylactic acid (PLA) foam packaging has been commercialized as an alternative to conventional polystyrene (PS) foam. However, PLA’s low glass transition temperature results in its inherently poor heat resistance and in turn limits the application to cold-fill packaging. In this study, low-density PLA foam sheet was extruded using an industry-scale tandem extrusion line and subsequently laminated with a PLA film casted from a high heat deflection temperature (HDT) PLA resin with a very low d-lactide monomer content (i.e., ∼0.4 mol %). Experimental results reveal that the crystallization behaviors of PLA foam sheets were sensitive to both thermoforming temperature and process-induced strain. Furthermore, this work has demonstrated that heat-resistant biodegradable PLA foam sheets could be realized by laminating them with solid films made of high-HDT PLA to serve as environmentally sustainable alternatives to PS foams in hot-fill packaging applications.