Morphology, Crystallization and Thermal Behaviors of PLA-Based Composites: Wonderful Effects of Hybrid GO/PEG via Dynamic Impregnating

In this paper, a dynamic impregnating device, which can generate supersonic vibration with the vacuum-adsorbing field, was used to prepare the hybrid graphene oxide (GO)/polyethylene glycol (PEG). Interestingly, the hybrid GO/PEG under dynamic impregnating and/or internal mixing was introduced into poly-(lactic acid) (PLA) matrix via melting-compounding, respectively. On one hand, compared with the internal mixing, the hybrid GO/PEG with the different component ratio using dynamic impregnation had a better dispersed morphology in the PLA matrix. On the other hand, compared with the high molecular weight (M(w)) of PEG, the hybrid GO/PEG with low M(w) of PEG had better an exfoliated morphology and significantly improved the heat distortion temperature (HDT) of the PLA matrix. Binding energies results indicate that low M(w) of PEG with GO has excellent compatibility. Dispersed morphologies of the hybrid GO/PEG show that the dynamic impregnating had stronger blending capacity than the internal mixing and obviously improved the exfoliated morphology of GO in the PLA. Crystallization behaviors indicate that the hybrid GO/PEG with the low M(w) of PEG based on dynamic impregnating effectively enhanced the crystallinity of PLA, and the cold crystallization character of PLA disappeared in the melting process. Moreover, the storage modulus and loss factor of the PLA-based composites were also investigated and their HDT was improved with the introduction of hybrid GO/PEG. Furthermore, a physical model for the dispersed morphology of the hybrid GO/PEG in the PLA matrix was established. Overall, the unique blending technique of hybrid GO/PEG via dynamic impregnating is an effective approach to enhance the property range of PLA and is suitable for many industrial applications.