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New biodegradable blends prepared from polylactide, titanium tetraisopropylate, and starch
Author(s) -
Liao HsinTzu,
Wu ChinSan
Publication year - 2008
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/app.27901
Subject(s) - materials science , thermogravimetric analysis , starch , nanocomposite , differential scanning calorimetry , ultimate tensile strength , acrylic acid , lactic acid , biodegradable polymer , glass transition , chemical engineering , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , polymer , scanning electron microscope , bioplastic , nuclear chemistry , composite material , copolymer , organic chemistry , chemistry , physics , genetics , biology , bacteria , engineering , thermodynamics , ecology
In this study, new biodegradable nanocomposites were prepared from poly(lactic acid) (PLA) or acrylic acid grafted poly(lactic acid) (PLA‐ g ‐AA), titanium tetraisopropylate, and starch by means of an in situ sol–gel process and the melt‐blending method. The samples were characterized with X‐ray diffractometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and an Instron mechanical tester. According to the results, a PLA‐ g ‐AA/TiO 2 hybrid could improve the properties of a PLA/TiO 2 hybrid because the carboxylic acid groups of acrylic acid should act as coordination sites for the titania phase to form the TiOC chemical bond. It was also found that both the tensile strength and glass‐transition temperature increased to a maximum value and then decreased with increasing TiO 2 because excess particles (e.g., greater than 10 wt % TiO 2 ) could cause separation or segregation between the organic and inorganic phases. A PLA‐ g ‐AA/TiO 2 /starch hybrid could obviously enhance the mechanical properties of a PLA‐ g ‐AA/starch hybrid because the former could provide a smaller starch phase size and nanoscale dispersion of TiO 2 in the polymer matrix. The biodegradable nanocomposites produced in our laboratory could provide a plateau tensile strength at break when the starch content was up to 50 wt %. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008