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Wu M, Ren Q, Zhu X, Li W, Luo H, Wu F, Wang L, Zheng W, Cui P, Yi X. Super toughened blends of poly(lactic acid) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) injection-molded foams via enhancing interfacial compatibility and cellular structure. Int J Biol Macromol 2023:125490. [PMID: 37348589 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
Biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) foams have drawn increasing attention due to environmental challenges and petroleum crisis. However, it still remains a challenge to prepare PLA foams with fine cellular structures and high impact property, which significantly hinders its widespread application. Herein, phase interface-enhanced PLA/ poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) blend foam, modified by a reactive compatibilizer through a simple reactive extrusion, was produced via a core-back foam injection molding technique. The obtained PLA blend foams displayed an impact strength as high as 49.1 kJ/m2, which was 9.3 and 6.4 times that of the unmodified PLA/PBAT blend and its corresponding foam, respectively. It proved that the interfacial adhesion and cell size both strongly affected the impact strength of injection-molded PLA/PBAT foams, and two major conclusions were proposed. First, enhancing interfacial adhesion could cause a brittle-tough transition of PLA/PBAT foams. Additionally, for foams with high interfacial adhesion, small cell size (<12 μm) was more favorable for the stretching of cells and extension of the whitened region in comparison with big cell size (cell size >60 μm), leading to the drastic toughening of PLA blends. This study provides a feasible, industrially scalable and practical strategy to prepare super toughened and fully biodegradable PLA materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minghui Wu
- Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China; Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, 199 Taikang East Road, Ningbo 315000, PR China
| | - Qian Ren
- Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Xiuyu Zhu
- Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China
| | - Wanwan Li
- Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China
| | - Haibin Luo
- Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China
| | - Fei Wu
- Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China
| | - Long Wang
- Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
| | - Wenge Zheng
- Ningbo Key Lab of Polymer Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Ping Cui
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, 199 Taikang East Road, Ningbo 315000, PR China
| | - Xiaosu Yi
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, 199 Taikang East Road, Ningbo 315000, PR China
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