Correlation between Composition, Structure and Properties of Poly(lactic acid) / Polyadipate based Nanobiocomposites

MARTINO, VERONICA P; RUSECKAITE, ROXANA A.; JIMÉNEZ, ALFONSO; AVEROUS, LUC

MACROMOLECULAR MATERIALS AND ENGINEERING (PRINT)

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH

Año: 2010 vol. 295 p. 551 - 558

1438-7492

Poly(lactic acid) plasticized with 15 and 20 wt.-% of polyadipate was melt-blended with different amounts of an O-MMT (1–5 wt.-%) to prepare nano-biocomposites. The effect of plasticizer and nanofiller contents on the morphology and on thermal, mechanical and barrier properties of PLA-based nano-biocomposites was evaluated in order to understand their structure-properties relationships. The oxygen transmission rate was notably reduced (around 45%) with increasing amount of clay due to an increased tortuosity. However, for clay concentrations above 3 wt.-%, a significant detriment in ductile properties could also be observed. For a given amount of nanofiller, the increasing plasticizer concentration improved the clay dispersion through the polymeric matrix.