scholarly journals Composites Based on Poly(Lactic Acid) (PLA) and SBA-15: Effect of Mesoporous Silica on Thermal Stability and on Isothermal Crystallization from Either Glass or Molten State

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 2743
Author(s):  
Tamara M. Díez-Rodríguez ◽  
Enrique Blázquez-Blázquez ◽  
Ernesto Pérez ◽  
María L. Cerrada

Several composites based on an L-rich poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with different contents of mesoporous Santa Barbara Amorphous (SBA-15) silica were prepared in order to evaluate the effect of the mesoporous silica on the resultant PLA materials by examining morphological aspects, changes in PLA phases and their transitions, and, primarily, the influence on some final properties. Melt extrusion was chosen for the obtainment of the composites, followed by quenching from the melt to prepare films. Completely amorphous samples were then attained, as deduced from X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results demonstrated that the presence of SBA-15 particles in the PLA matrix did not exert any significant influence on the thermal decomposition of these composites. An important nucleation effect of the silica was found in PLA, especially under isothermal crystallization either from the melt or from its glassy state. As expected, isothermal crystallization from the glass was considerably faster than from the molten state, and these high differences were also responsible for a more considerable nucleating role of SBA-15 when crystallizing from the melt. It is remarkable that the PLA under analysis showed very close temperatures for cold crystallization and its subsequent melting. Moreover, the type of developed polymorphs did not accomplish the common rules previously described in the literature. Thus, all the isothermal experiments led to exclusive formation of the α modification, and the observation of the α’ crystals required the annealing for long times at temperatures below 80 °C, as ascertained by both DSC and X-ray diffraction experiments. Finally, microhardness (MH) measurements indicated a competition between the PLA physical aging and the silica reinforcement effect in the as-processed amorphous films. Physical aging in the neat PLA was much more important than in the PLA matrix that constituted the composites. Accordingly, the MH trend with SBA-15 content was strongly dependent on aging times.

2007 ◽  
Vol 29-30 ◽  
pp. 337-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Sawpan ◽  
K.L. Pickering ◽  
Alan Fernyhough

The potential of hemp fibre as a reinforcing material for Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was investigated. Good interaction between hemp fibre and PLA resulted in increases of 100% for Young’s modulus and 30% for tensile strength of composites containing 30 wt% fibre. Different predictive ‘rule of mixtures’ models (e.g. Parallel, Series and Hirsch) were assessed regarding the dependence of tensile properties on fibre loading. Limited agreement with models was observed. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) studies showed that hemp fibre increased the degree of crystallinity in PLA composites.


2012 ◽  
Vol 549 ◽  
pp. 322-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Chen ◽  
Qiang Dou

The effect of a nucleating agent (NT-C) on the crystallization behavior of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was studied. The melting and crystallization behavior and spherulitic morphology of the nucleated PLA were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). It is found that the crystallization temperature and crystallinity increase, the spherulitic size decrease for the nucleated PLA. But the crystal structure of the nucleated PLA is not changed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mounira Maiza ◽  
Mohamed Tahar Benaniba ◽  
Valérie Massardier-Nageotte

Abstract Triethyl citrate (TEC) and acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC) were used as plasticizer for poly(lactic acid) (PLA). The treated and plasticized PLA at various concentrations were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and opacity. DSC was used to evaluate the crystallinity and thermal property of all the samples. It was found that the glass transition temperature (Tg) and the melting temperature (Tm) decreased as the amount of citrate esters increased. Additionally, the presence of TEC or ATBC tended to increase the crystallinity of PLA. This result was supported by XRD. DMA of plasticized PLA indicates that a decrease in Tg is obtained with increasing plasticizer content. FTIR spectra indicate that there are some molecular interactions by intermolecular hydrogen bonds between PLA and citrate esters. The effect of the concentration of plasticizer on the opacity of the films was negligible.


2014 ◽  
Vol 775-776 ◽  
pp. 233-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayanne Diniz Souza Morais ◽  
Renata Barbosa ◽  
Keila Machado Medeiros ◽  
Edcleide Maria Araújo ◽  
Tomás Jefférson Alves de Mélo

Recent advances in biodegradable polymers have attracted a great interest not only in traditional areas such as biomedical and pharmaceutical industry, but also in packaging applications, articles and injected membranes. The aim of this work was to produce bio-nanocomposites poly (lactic acid) - PLA with bentonite clay. The bio-nanocomposites were produced by melt intercalation with incorporation of 1 to 3 wt% of organoclay. The degree of dispersion of clays in the polymer, and consequently the structure of bio-nanocomposites produced was evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the thermal properties were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). XRD results indicated the formation of intercalated structures. It was observed the appearance of crystalline melting double peaks in bio-nanocomposites PLA.


2018 ◽  
Vol 89 (9) ◽  
pp. 1770-1781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huaizhong Xu ◽  
Benedict Bauer ◽  
Masaki Yamamoto ◽  
Hideki Yamane

A facile route was proposed to fabricate core–sheath microfibers, and the relationships among processing parameters, crystalline structures and the mechanical properties were investigated. The compression molded poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBH)/poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) strip enhanced the spinnability of PHBH and the mechanical properties of PLLA as well. The core–sheath ratio of the fibers was determined by the prefab strip, while the PLLA sheath component did not completely cover the PHBH core component due to the weak interfacial tension between the melts of PHBH and PLLA. A rotational target was applied to collect aligned fibers, which were further drawn in a water bath. The tensile strength and the modulus of as-spun and drawn fibers increased with increasing the take-up velocities. When the take-up velocity was above 500 m/min, the jet became unstable and started to break up at the tip of the Taylor cone, decreasing the mechanical properties of the fibers. The drawing process facilitated the crystallization of PLLA and PHBH, and the tensile strength and the modulus increased linearly with the increasing the draw ratio. The crystal information displayed from wide-angle X-ray diffraction patterns and differential scanning calorimetry heating curves supported the results of the tensile tests.


2011 ◽  
Vol 332-334 ◽  
pp. 317-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Qin Zhang

In this study, composite nanofibers of polyaniline doped with dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (PANI-DBSA) and Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) were prepared via an electrospinning process. The surface morphology, thermal properties and crystal structure of PLA/PANI-DBSA nanofibers are characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), wide-angle x-ray diffraction (WAXD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM images showed that the morphology and diameter of the nanofibers were affected by the weight ratio of blend solution.


2011 ◽  
Vol 284-286 ◽  
pp. 246-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Hua Chen ◽  
Xia Yin Yao ◽  
Zhi Juan Pan ◽  
Qun Gu

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/graphene nanocomposites were prepared by solution blending using chloroform as a mutual solvent. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to examine the quality of the dispersion of graphene in the PLA matrix. The isothermal crystallization behaviors of PLA and PLA/graphene nanocomposites were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The isothermal crystallization kinetics were analyzed by Avrami model based on the DSC data. The results showed that the well dispersed graphene nanosheets could act as a heterogeneous nucleating agent and lead to an acceleration of crystallization during the PLA isothermal crystallization process. According to the Arrhenius equation, the activation energies were found to be -106.9 and -46.6 kJ/mol for pure PLA and PLA/0.1 wt % graphene nanocomposite, respectively. The crystal morphology were characterized with polarizing optical microscope (POM).


2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanhua Chen ◽  
Xiayin Yao ◽  
Qun Gu ◽  
Zhijuan Pan

Abstract Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/graphene nanocomposites were prepared by solution blending and the dispersibility of graphene in the PLA matrix was examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The non-isothermal crystallization behaviors of pure PLA and PLA/graphene nanocomposites from the melt were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results showed that the graphene could play a role as a heterogeneous nucleating agent during the non-isothermal crystallizing process of PLA, and accelerate the crystallization rate. The non-isothermal crystallizing data were analyzed with the Avrami, Ozawa and Mo et al. models and the crystallization parameters of the samples were obtained. It is demonstrated that the combination of the Avrami and Ozawa models developed by Mo et al. was successful in describing the non-isothermal crystallization process for pure PLA and its nanocomposite. According to the Kissinger equation, the activation energies were found to be -154.3 and -179.5 kJ/mol for pure PLA and PLA/0.1 wt% graphene nanocomposite, respectively. Furthermore, the spherulite growth behavior was investigated by polarized optical microscopy (POM) and the results also supported the DSC data.


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