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Structure and conditioning effect on mechanical behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol)/calcium lactate biocomposites
Author(s) -
Sedlarik Vladimír,
Galya Tsermaa,
Emri Igor,
Saha Petr
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.20672
Subject(s) - vinyl alcohol , materials science , ultimate tensile strength , differential scanning calorimetry , hydrolysis , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , absorption of water , composite material , glass transition , relative humidity , dynamic mechanical analysis , izod impact strength test , chemical engineering , polymer , organic chemistry , chemistry , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
The structural and mechanical characteristics of polymeric biocomposites based on calcium lactate (CL) and either partially (88 mol%) or fully (98 mol%) hydrolyzed poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were studied using optical microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy equipped with attenuated total reflectance accessory, water content determination, and differential scanning calorimetry. In addition, the moisture absorption effect on the mechanical properties of the biocomposites was tested in this work. The results reveal that CL is a suitable modifier for both types of PVA. However, a more efficient enhancement of uniform shape and size distribution of CL particles within the PVA matrix was noticed in fully hydrolyzed matrix at low water contents. It is in agreement with glass transition temperature's observations. The samples conditioned at 50% of relative humidity (RH) showed decrease in E modulus and tensile strength in comparison with the material stored below 20% RH. Nevertheless, the enhancement of tensile properties, because of the modification with CL, was still noticeable especially for the partially hydrolyzed PVA‐based biocomposites. The optimum concentration of the modifier was estimated on the basis of the obtained results. POLYM. COMPOS., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers