Premium
Rubber toughening of poly(lactide) by blending and block copolymerization
Author(s) -
Grijpma D. W.,
Van Hofslot R. D. A.,
Supèr H.,
Nijenhuis A. J.,
Pennings A. J.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.760342205
Subject(s) - materials science , copolymer , lactide , amorphous solid , toughness , natural rubber , toughening , composite material , compression molding , izod impact strength test , polymer , brittleness , phase (matter) , trimethylene carbonate , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , ultimate tensile strength , mold , chemistry
Copolymers of L‐lactide with 15 or more mole % D‐lactide are amorphous, noncrystallizable hydrolytically degradable materials. These glassy materials are brittle in tension and bending. To make these materials suitable for use as load‐bearing devices in biomedical applications, toughness has to be enhanced. This is effectively accomplished by introducing a separate degradable rubber phase in the amorphous matrix. Several approaches have been explored: solution blending and coprecipitation of trimethylene carbonate and ϵ‐caprolactone rubbers and poly(lactide), preparation of ABA triblock copolymers and blending of ABA block copolymers with the amorphous poly(lactide) matrix. In all cases very tough materials could be prepared. These materials are easily processable by compression molding at relatively low temperatures.