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Polylactides with “green” plasticizers: Influence of isomer composition
Author(s) -
Arias Veluska,
Höglund Anders,
Odelius Karin,
Albertsson AnnChristine
Publication year - 2013
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.39446
Subject(s) - plasticizer , polyethylene glycol , polymer chemistry , polymer , glycerol , extrusion , chemical engineering , materials science , chemistry , polymer science , organic chemistry , composite material , engineering
ABSTRACT Synthesized polylactides (PLA) with different D ‐isomer contents in the polymer chain were melt‐blended with a series of “green” plasticizers by extrusion. Mechanical and thermal properties as well as the morphology of the plasticized materials were characterized to demonstrate how the combination of PLA with different D‐contents and plasticizer controls the material properties. After addition of acetyl tributyl citrate (ATC), the elongation at break for PLA with a low D‐isomer content was twice as high as that for PLAs with high D‐isomer contents. Similar variations in the plasticization effect on the PLAs were also observed with the other plasticizers used, glyceryl triacetate (GTA), glycerol trihexanoate (GTH) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). In order to continue with the development of renewable polymers in packaging applications, the interrelation between a plasticizer and a specific polymer needs to be understood. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 2962–2970, 2013