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Epoxidized soybean oil‐plasticized poly(lactic acid) films performance as impacted by storage
Author(s) -
Xing Cheng,
Matuana Laurent M.
Publication year - 2016
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.43201
Subject(s) - plasticizer , materials science , crystallinity , ultimate tensile strength , extrusion , glass transition , epoxidized soybean oil , dynamic mechanical analysis , composite material , rheometry , crystallization , rheology , chemical engineering , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , raw material , engineering
This study examined the effect of storage time at room temperature on the melt viscosity, thermal, and tensile properties of epoxidized soybean oil plasticized poly(lactic acid) (PLA) films manufactured through a cast extrusion process. Infrared results indicate that plasticizer migration to the surface of the film occurred after only 30 days of storage, which significantly affected the performance of plasticized films. While the melt viscosity, glass transition temperature, degree of crystallinity, tensile strength, and modulus increased, the elongation at break and energy to break decreased with storage time up to 30 days and all properties remained constant thereafter. However, the ability of stored plasticized film to cold crystallize remained unaffected since both the cold crystallization temperature and melting temperature were not affected during storage. Although plasticized film lost some flexibility after only 30 days of storage due to plasticizer migration to the surface of the film, sufficient plasticization performance still remained in plasticized PLA films for flexible packaging application even after a long storage period at ambient conditions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 43201.