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Properties of Compatible Soy Protein Isolate/Polycaprolactone Composite with Special Interface Structure
Author(s) -
Wu Qiangxian,
Ma Nian,
Liu Ting,
Koranteng Ernest
Publication year - 2019
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.24694
Subject(s) - materials science , polycaprolactone , composite material , compatibility (geochemistry) , soy protein , ultimate tensile strength , composite number , polymer , polyurethane , crystallinity , chemistry , biochemistry
It is important to improve the compatibility and ultimately the properties of biobased polymer materials as alternative materials for non‐degradable polymer materials. In this study, polyurethane prepolymer (PUP) was synthesized from PCL diols, and the PUP with special structure was used as a compatibilizer to improve the compatibility between hydrophilic soy protein isolate (SPI) and hydrophobic PCL composites. The structure and properties of the soy protein isolate‐polycaprolactone (SPI‐PCL) composites were investigated. The results showed that the mechanical properties such as the tensile strength, impact strength, and bending strength of the modified composites were increased as compared to un‐modified composites, respectively. Also, the SEM results showed that the interfacial adhesion between the hydrophobic PCL and hydrophilic SPI was also enhanced because of the existence of compatible PU interfacial layer in the composites. Clearly, the strong urethane linkage interaction between the PU interfacial layer and the SPI particles, and the PCL–PCL crystallinity interactions between the PU interfacial layer and PCL matrix were responsible for the improved compatibility in the SPI–PCL composites. Therefore, the addition of the PUP with the special structure improved the compatibility and the properties of the SPI–PCL composites significantly. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E383–E391, 2019. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers