Thermal degradation kinetic analysis of polylactic acid/tributyrin blends

D.A.DAMICO; M. L. IGLESIAS MONTES; L.B. MANFREDI; V. P. CYRAS

Buenos Aires

Workshop; II Workshop on Bio-degradable Polymers and Biocomposites and III Workshop BIOPURFIL, Bio-based Polyurethane Composites with Natural Fillers (BioPoli 2015); 2015

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a biodegradable and biocompatible crystalline polymer that can be produced from renewable resources on a large scale which is of great interest in different domains: packaging, agriculture and textiles. However, there are still drawbacks that restrict its application. One of the classical ways to overcome these problems is to perform blending with an additive. Tributyrin (TBL) has proved to be a good plasticizer for various biodegradable polymers.Thermal degradation of PLA and PLA/TBL blends was studied and the activation energy of the process (E) was calculated. The E values remained practically constant close to 125 kJ/mol. Finally, master plots of the PLA and its blends were built. It was found a null effect of TBL on the degradation mechanism of PLA.