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Oligomalonate Plasticized Poly(Lactic Acid) Films: Crystallization, Thermal, and Mechanical Properties
Author(s) -
Inácio Erika M.,
Lima Maria C. P.,
Souza Diego H. S.,
Sirelli Lys,
Dias Marcos L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.201800099
Subject(s) - crystallization , materials science , lactic acid , thermal , composite material , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , polymer science , genetics , bacteria , engineering , biology , physics , meteorology
The biodegradable aliphatic oligoester oligo(trimethylene malonate) (OTM) is synthesized by polycondensation and used to plasticize poly(lactic acid) (PLA). Casting films of PLA and PLA/OTM with concentrations of 1, 5,and 10 wt.% are prepared, and these films are characterized by thermal analyses, rheology, and mechanical tests. DSC revealed that the T g of PLA films decreases with addition of the oligomer. A decrease of about 10 °C in the T g is attained when 10 wt% of the oligomer is added to the polymer. Addition of OTM to PLA slightly decreases the thermal stability and does not change significantly the degree of crystallinity ( X c ) of the films. Dynamic‐mechanical analyses of these casting films show that the PLA/OTM systems presented lower storage modulus than PLA and mechanical test shows an increased in the elongation at break for PLA films containing the oligoester up to 200%. The results make possible to conclude that the oligomer synthesized from bio‐based monomers acts as a plasticizer of PLA increasing the PLA flexibility.