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Maleation of polylactide (PLA) by reactive extrusion
Author(s) -
Carlson Denise,
Nie Li,
Narayan Ramani,
Dubois Philippe
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19990425)72:4<477::aid-app3>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - reactive extrusion , melt flow index , maleic anhydride , grafting , polymer chemistry , radical initiator , extrusion , thermogravimetric analysis , materials science , compatibilization , benzoyl peroxide , polymer , chemistry , chemical engineering , copolymer , organic chemistry , monomer , composite material , polymer blend , engineering
Free‐radical‐initiated grafting of maleic anhydride (MA) onto a polylactide (PLA) backbone was performed by reactive extrusion. A concentration of 2 wt % MA in the presence of 2,5‐dimethyl‐2,5‐di‐( tert ‐butylperoxy)hexane (Lupersol 101) as the free‐radical initiator was used for all experiments. Two reaction temperatures were studied (180 and 200°C) with a peroxide initiator concentration between 0.0 and 0.5 wt %. Under these conditions, between 0.066 and 0.672 wt % MA was grafted onto the PLA chains. Triple‐detector size‐exclusion chromatography (TriSEC), melt flow index (MFI), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize the maleated PLA polymers. Increasing the initiator concentration resulted in an increase in the grafting of MA, as well as a decrease in the molecular weight of the polymer. The maleation of PLA proved to be very efficient in promoting strong interfacial adhesion with corn native starch in composites as obtained by melt blending. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 72: 477–485, 1999