Polylactic acid and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) blends/ modified clay based Nano-biocomposites

D.A.DAMICO; G.STOCLET; V.MIRI; L. B. MANFREDI; V. P. CYRAS

Buenos Aires

Conferencia; VI International Conference on Science and Technology of Composite Materials (COMAT 2015); 2015

In this work, PLA/PHB blends were processed by melt fusion in order to obtain a material with improved properties compared to those of the pure polymers. Moreover, nanocomposites of these blends were obtained by the addition of a modified clay. The resultant materials were characterized by differential scanning calorimetric analysis (DSC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small angle X ray scattering (SAXS) and mechanical test. By DSC analysis, two glass transition temperatures were found, indicating no miscibility between PHB and PLA. A good dispersion of nanoclay platelets was observed by TEM. Different blend composition micrographs showed that the platelets of clay are preferentially located in the PHB phase. SAXS analysis revealed an increase in the long period of PHB lamellas. The elastic modulus enhanced with increasing the proportion of PLA in the blend.