Manufacturing and Characterization of Toughened Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) Formulations by Ternary Blends with Biopolyesters.

ABSTRACT: Ternary blends with a constant poly(lactic acid) (PLA) content (60 wt %) and varying amounts of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) were manufactured by one step melt blending process followed by injection moulding, with the main aim of improving the low intrinsic toughness of PLA. Mechanical properties were obtained from tensile and Charpy impact tests. The miscibility and morphology of the system was studied by thermal analysis and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The obtained results showed a clear phase separation, thus indicating poor miscibility between these three biopolyesters, i.e., PLA, the continuous component with dispersed PHB and PCL domains in the form of different sphere size. Nevertheless, the high fragility of PLA was remarkabl

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Campo MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6415117 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature