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The crystallization behavior and mechanical properties of polylactic acid in the presence of a crystal nucleating agent
Author(s) -
Tang Zhaobin,
Zhang Chuanzhi,
Liu Xiaoqing,
Zhu Jin
Publication year - 2011
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.34799
Subject(s) - crystallinity , crystallization , polylactic acid , materials science , annealing (glass) , nucleation , chemical engineering , crystal (programming language) , dynamic mechanical analysis , composite material , polymer chemistry , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , computer science , engineering , programming language
The crystallization behavior of polylactic acid (PLA) was studied in the presence of a crystal nucleating agent, ethylenebishydroxystearamide (EBH). The crystallization rate and crystallinity were significantly increased with addition of EBH. The isothermal crystallization half‐time at 105°C was decreased from 18.8 minutes for neat PLA to 2.8 minutes for PLA with 1.0 wt % of EBH. The crystallinity of PLA with 1.0 wt % EBH was about 35% after 5‐minute annealing at 105°C. Like neat PLA, the double melting peaks were also observed for nucleated PLA. The changes of the double melt peaks were investigated with various crystallization temperatures, heating rates, and annealing times. The heat deflection temperature (HDT) of nucleated PLA was up to 93°C after annealing. The correlation between crystallinity and HDT was demonstrated. A percolation threshold of crystallinity was found corresponding to HDT. The crystal size of nucleated PLA was significantly decreased with addition of EBH. The mechanical properties of annealed PLA blends simultaneously; showed improved modulus and impact strength. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012