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A Comparative Study on the Mechanical, Thermal and Morphological Characterization of Poly(lactic acid)/Epoxidized Palm Oil Blend

In this work, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) a fully biodegradable thermoplastic polymer matrix was melt blended with three different epoxidized palm oil (EPO). The aim of this research was to enhance the flexibility, mechanical and thermal properties of PLA. The blends were prepared at various EPO content...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Giita Silverajah, V. S., Ibrahim, Nor Azowa, Yunus, Wan Md Zin Wan, Hassan, Hazimah Abu, Woei, Chieng Buong
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3382784/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22754338
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms13055878
Descripción
Sumario:In this work, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) a fully biodegradable thermoplastic polymer matrix was melt blended with three different epoxidized palm oil (EPO). The aim of this research was to enhance the flexibility, mechanical and thermal properties of PLA. The blends were prepared at various EPO contents of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 wt% and characterized. The SEM analysis evidenced successful modification on the neat PLA brittle morphology. Tensile tests indicate that the addition of 1 wt% EPO is sufficient to improve the strength and flexibility compared to neat PLA. Additionally, the flexural and impact properties were also enhanced. Further, DSC analysis showed that the addition of EPO results in a decrease in T(g), which implies an increase in the PLA chain mobility. In the presence of 1 wt% EPO, TGA results revealed significant increase in the thermal stability by 27%. Among the three EPOs used, EPO(3) showed the best mechanical and thermal properties compared to the other EPO’s, with an optimum loading of 1 wt%. Conclusively, EPO showed a promising outcome to overcome the brittleness and improve the overall properties of neat PLA, thus can be considered as a potential plasticizer.