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The Effects of Process Engineering on the Performance of PLA and PHBV Blends
Author(s) -
Nanda Malaya R.,
Misra Manjusri,
Mohanty Amar K.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201000417
Subject(s) - miscibility , materials science , crystallinity , polymer blend , polymer , composite material , modulus , glass transition , ultimate tensile strength , elongation , phase (matter) , copolymer , organic chemistry , chemistry
The effects of process engineering in the fabrication of PHBV, PLA and their blends prepared by melt blending are studied. The elongation of an optimized blend can be improved by 148 and 250% over the virgin PHBV and PLA polymers, respectively. DSC shows that the two polymers are immiscible in blends of any composition. The crystallinity of PHBV is hindered by the presence of PLA. UV‐Vis demonstrates the opacity of the blend with incorporation of PHBV to the PLA phase. The observed tensile modulus of the optimized sample is compared with theoretical values from the rule of mixtures. Gordon‐Taylor's equation is applied on the glass transition temperatures for theoretical modeling to explain the miscibility of the polymers.