scholarly journals Simultaneous Enhancement of Strength and Toughness of PLA Induced by Miscibility Variation with PVA

Polymers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanping Liu ◽  
Hanghang Wei ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
Qian Li ◽  
Nan Tian

The mechanical properties of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) nanofibers with 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20% (w/w) poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were investigated at the macro- and microscale. The macro-mechanical properties for the fiber membrane revealed that both the modulus and fracture strain could be improved by 100% and 70%, respectively, with a PVA content of 5%. The variation in modulus and fracture strain versus the diameter of a single electrospun fiber presented two opposite trends, while simultaneous enhancement was observed when the content of PVA was 5% and 10%. With a diameter of 1 μm, the strength and toughness of the L95V5 and L90V10 fibers were enhanced to over 3 and 2 times that of pure PLA, respectively. The structural evolution of electrospun nanofiber was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Although PLA and PVA were still miscible in the concentration range used, the latter could crystallize independently after electrospinning. According to the crystallization behavior of the nanofibers, a double network formed by PLA and PVA—one microcrystal/ordered structure and one amorphous structure—is proposed to contribute to the simultaneous enhancement of strength and toughness, which provides a promising method for preparing biodegradable material with high performance.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ren Tominaga ◽  
Yukihiro Nishimura ◽  
Yasuhito Suzuki ◽  
Yoshihiro Takeda ◽  
Masaru Kotera ◽  
...  

AbstractHigh-performance polymer materials that can exhibit distinguished mechanical properties have been developed based on material design considering energy dissipation by sacrificial bond dissociation. We now propose co-continuous network polymers (CNPs) for the design of tough polymer materials. CNP is a new composite material fabricated by filling the three-dimensionally continuous pores of a hard epoxy monolith with any cross-linked polymer having a low glass transition temperature (Tg). The structure and mechanical properties of the CNPs containing epoxy resins, thiol-ene thermosets, and polyacrylates as the low-Tg components were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, tensile tests as well as scanning electron microscopic observations and non-destructive 3D X-ray imaging in order to clarify a mechanism for exhibiting an excellent strength and toughness. It has been demonstrated that the mechanical properties and fractural behavior of the CNPs significantly depend on the network structure of the filler polymers, and that a simultaneous high strength and toughness are achieved via the sacrificial fracture mechanism of epoxy-based hard materials with co-continuous network structures.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Das ◽  
S. Pauly ◽  
C. Duhamel ◽  
B.C. Wei ◽  
J. Eckert

Cu47.5Zr47.5Al5 was prepared by arc melting and solidified in situ by suction casting into 2–5-mm-diameter rods under various cooling rates (200–2000 K/s). The microstructure was investigated along the length of the rods by electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and mechanical properties were investigated under compression. The microstructure of differently prepared specimens consists of macroscopic spherical shape chemically inhomogeneous regions together with a low volume fraction of randomly distributed CuZr B2 phase embedded in a 2–7 nm size clustered “glassy-martensite” matrix. The as-cast specimens show high yield strength (1721 MPa), pronounced work-hardening behavior up to 2116 MPa and large fracture strain up to 12.1–15.1%. The fracture strain decreases with increasing casting diameter. The presence of chemical inhomogenities and nanoscale “glassy-martensite” features are beneficial for improving the inherent ductility of the metallic glass.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nehad N. Rozik ◽  
Emad Saad Shafik ◽  
Salwa L. Abd-El-Messieh

Purpose This study aims to polymerize of 1-butyl-3-vinylimidazolium bromide (PIL). PIL was embedded into PVA with a different content ratio by casting method. This research also deals with the effect of adding PIL in different proportions to PVA on the electrical and mechanical properties properties in addition to the morphology of the prepared samples. Design/methodology/approach 1-Butyl-3-vinylimidazolium bromide was synthesized through quaternization and free radical polymerization. The resulting polymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. In addition to the morphology of PVA, PVA/PIL was investigated by polarizing microscope. Also, the effect of PIL content on the electrical and mechanical properties was evaluated. Findings The findings of this study might lead to new applications for PVA and PILs in electrical and dielectrics. The mechanical results revealed that the tensile strength increased slightly with increasing polyionic liquid (PIL) content and decreased above 10% PIL. While the elongation at break increased significantly with increasing PIL content and begin to decrease above 10% PIL. Also, the electrical property of the poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/PIL blends was improved because of the strong plasticizing effect of PIL. Also, the electrical conductivity of these polymer electrolytes is greatly increased. This indicates that the imidazolium-based PIL has an effective approach that leads to an increase in the conductivity of the polymer. The PILs/PVA design will not only enrich the chemical structure but also will contribute to green manufacturing techniques and a processing methodology that enables green membrane manufacture. Originality/value This study contributes to green manufacturing techniques and a processing methodology that enables “green” membrane manufacture.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (10) ◽  
pp. 1383-1395
Author(s):  
Hongjuan Zheng ◽  
Zhengqian Sun ◽  
Hongjuan Zhang

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has good environmental compatibility, however, its high brittleness, slow rate of crystallization, and low heat distortion temperature restrict its widespread use. To overcome these limitations, in this study, PLA was mixed with walnut shell (WS) powders. The effects of WS powders on the morphology and the thermal and mechanical properties of PLA were investigated. The products were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, polarizing optical microscopy (POM), and various mechanical property testing techniques. The results showed that WS powders had a significant effect on the morphology and the thermal and mechanical properties of PLA. The tensile strength, impact strength, and elongation at break of the PLA/WS composites first increased and then decreased with the increasing addition of WS powders. When the addition of WS powders was about 0.5 wt%, they reached maximum values of 51.2 MPa, 23.3 MPa, and 19.0%, respectively. Compared with neat PLA, the spherulite grain size of the composites could be reduced and many irregular polygons were formed during crystallization. The melting, cold crystallization, and glass-transition temperatures of the composites were lower than those of neat PLA.


Holzforschung ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 439-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ru Liu ◽  
Shupin Luo ◽  
Jinzhen Cao ◽  
Yu Chen

Abstract Wood flour/polylactic acid (WF/PLA) composites were produced with a WF content of 50% based on three types of waterborne polyacrylate (PA) emulsions including a PA homopolymer emulsion and two types of silane-PA copolymer emulsions as coupling agents. Two silanes were in focus, namely, γ-methacryloxypropyl- trimethoxysilane (silane-1) and vinyltrimethoxysilane (silane-2). The emulsions and the modified WFs were characterized, and the effects were investigated in terms of emulsion type and their loading levels on the mechanical properties of WF/PLA composites. (1) Both types of silanes could be successfully copolymerized with PA to form stable emulsions. (2) With increasing PA loading, the mechanical properties (except for flexural modulus) of the composites increased at first before reaching the maximum values at 4% PA loading and then the properties worsened. However, these values were larger than those of pure composites, especially in cases when PA-silane emulsions were applied. (3) PA modified with silane-1 showed the best coupling effect among all the three PA emulsions. The results can be interpreted that PA emulsions are effective coupling agents for the preparation of high-performance WPCs.


Author(s):  
Mohammad K. Hossain ◽  
Samira N. Shaily ◽  
Hadiya J. Harrigan ◽  
Terrie Mickens

A completely biodegradable composite was fabricated from an herbal polymer, soy protein concentrate (SPC) resin. Soy protein was modified by adding 30 wt% of glycerol and 5 wt% of poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) to enhance its mechanical as well as thermal property. 3%, 5%, 10%, and 20% nanoclay (NC) were infused into the system. To evaluate its mechanical properties, crystallinity, thermal properties, bonding interaction, and morphological evaluation, tensile, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) tests, and optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) evaluation were performed. Tensile tests showed that the addition of nanoclay improved the mechanical properties of the modified resin. Soy protein is hydrophilic due to the presence of amino acids that contain various polar groups such as amine, carboxyl, and hydroxyl. As a result, polar nanoclay particles that are exfoliated can be evenly dispersed in the SPC resin. From experimental results, it is clear that adding of nanoclay with SPC resin significantly increased the stiffness of the SPC resin. A combination of 5% clay, 30% glycerol, and 5% PVA with the modified SPC resulted in the maximum stress of 18 MPa and Young modulus of 958 MPa. The modified SPC showed a reduced failure strain as well. X-ray diffraction curves showed an improvement of crystallinity of the prepared resin with increasing amount of nanoclay. Interaction among soy, glycerol, PVA, and nanoclay was clearly demonstrated from the FTIR analysis. Optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs revealed rougher surface in the nanoclay infused SPC samples compared to that of the neat one. SEM evaluation revealed rougher fracture surface in the NC infused samples.


e-Polymers ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qun Wang ◽  
Lu Qi

AbstractA group of films mainly composed of sericin and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), using boric acid (BA) as a modifier, were prepared by a technique of solution casting. In this work, the effect of BA and sericin on the mechanical properties and water resistance of the films was analyzed, the interior morphology of the films were described by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the thermal stability of the films was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the reaction mechanism was proposed according to the previous literature and the test of Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR). Results indicated that, the properties of the membrane were the functions of the blend ratio of sercin to PVA and the content of BA. The use of BA increased the tensile strength, improved the water resistance and the thermal stability, and varied the interior morphology of the films. The content of sericin greatly influenced the combination of properties of the films, especially the mechanical properties, interior morphology, thermal stability, and water resistance reducing with the increasing of sericin content. The films have potential to be used in materials, such as skin-care coatings for beauty, percutaneous drug delivery systems for exterior intact skin, due to the characteristics of the components and the good mechanical properties of the films.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 2861
Author(s):  
Zhi-Jun Chen ◽  
Chi-Hui Tsou ◽  
Meng-Lin Tsai ◽  
Jipeng Guo ◽  
Manuel Reyes De Guzman ◽  
...  

Adding natural biomass to poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as a reinforcing filler is a way to change the properties of PLA. This paper is about preparing PLA/biomass composites by physically melting and blending Chinese Spirits distiller’s grains (CSDG) biomass and PLA to optimize the composite performance. Composites of modified PLA (MPLA) with varying amounts of CSDG were also prepared by the melt-mixing method, and unmodified PLA/CSDG composites were used as a control group for comparative analysis. The functional groups of MPLA enhanced the compatibility between the polymer substrate and CSDG. The composite water vapor/oxygen barrier and mechanical properties were studied. It was found that the barrier and mechanical properties of MPLA/CSDG composites were significantly improved. SEM was adopted to examine the tensile section structure of the composites, and the compatibility between the filler and the matrix was analyzed. An appropriate amount of CSDG had a better dispersibility in the matrix, and it further improved the interfacial bonding force, which in turn improved the composite mechanical properties. X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry were conducted to determine the crystalline properties and to analyze the stability of the composites. It was found that the CSDG content had a significant effect on the crystallinity. Barrier and biodegradation mechanisms were also discussed.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 3962
Author(s):  
Abdul Shakoor Shar ◽  
Caili Zhang ◽  
Xieqing Song ◽  
Yunxuan Weng ◽  
Qiuyue Du

Polymer/clay composites are an innovative class of materials. In this study, we present a facile method for the preparation of biodegradable and robust PLA/organomodified montmorillonite (OMMT) composite films with excellent gas barrier performance. When the design of PLA/OMMT composite films, in addition to making OMMT have good intercalation effect in the matrix, the compatibility of intercalating polymer and matrix should also be considered. In this work, two polymers with high gas barrier properties, namely poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), were selected to intercalate OMMT. The morphology and microstructures of the prepared PLA/PVA/OMMT and PLA/EVOH/OMMT composites were characterized by the X-ray diffraction measurement, scanning electron microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. It was shown that the good dispersibility of PVA in the PLA matrix, rather than the intercalation effect, was responsible for the improved gas barrier and mechanical properties of PLA/PVA/OMMT composite. The elongation at break increases from 4.5% to 22.7% when 1 wt % PVA is added to PLA/OMMT. Moreover, gas barrier of PLA/PVA1/OMMT measured as O2 permeability is 52.8% higher than that of neat PLA. This work provides a route to intercalate OMMT interlayer with high gas barrier polymers and thus can be a useful reference to fabricate PLA/OMMT composites with improved gas barrier and mechanical properties. A comparison of oxygen permeabilities with existing commercial packaging films indicates that the biodegradable PLA/PVA/OMMT may serve as a viable substitute for packaging film applications.


2020 ◽  
Vol 856 ◽  
pp. 331-338
Author(s):  
Sirisart Ouajai ◽  
Suttinun Phongtamrug

This research has focused on the effect of modified cellulose and clay on the thermal and mechanical properties of PLA bio-nanocomposite. Cellulose was chemically modified with silane coupling agent in order to enhance compatiblization with PLA. Successful modification was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and EDX-SEM. PLA was compounded with various amounts and ratios of the modified cellulose and clay by a twin-screw extruder. Thermal properties of the bio-nanocomposites were characterized by Thermogravimetric Analysis and Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Glass transition temperature of the bio-nanocomposite slightly decreased whereas melting temperature remained constant when the amount of both fillers was increased. In addition, crystallization behaviour of PLA has been influenced by the type and amount of the fillers. Clay showed a greater effect on the crystallization of PLA than the modified cellulose and unmodified one, respectively. The flexural modulus of the composite containing equal amount between clay and cellulose was increased with an increasing in fillers contents. But the flexural and impact strength of composite were gradually decreased with an increase in fillers contents. Variation of clay and cellulose ratio resulted in the change of mechanical properties. The composite containing higher ratio between clay:cellulose or cellulose:clay showed a better mechnical properties comparing to the ratio of clay:cellulose equal to 1:1.


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