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Toughening of polylactide with natural rubber grafted with poly(butyl acrylate)
Author(s) -
Zhang Chunmei,
Man Changzhen,
Pan Yonghao,
Wang Weiwei,
Jiang Long,
Dan Yi
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.3118
Subject(s) - materials science , natural rubber , acrylate , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , thermal stability , grafting , emulsion polymerization , butyl acrylate , copolymer , emulsion , polymer chemistry , composite material , scanning electron microscope , chemical engineering , polymer , engineering
Natural rubber grafted with poly(butyl acrylate) (NR‐g‐PBA) in an attempt to toughen polylactide (PLA) was prepared by grafting butyl acrylate onto natural rubber (NR) through emulsion polymerization. The purified NR‐g‐PBA was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. NR‐g‐PBA/PLA blend and NR/PLA blend were prepared with a Haake internal melt mixer. The morphology and mechanical properties of the blends were investigated as a function of rubber content. Observations by scanning electron microscopy showed that the spherical‐particle‐dispersed phase appearing in the NR/PLA blend was not found in the NR‐g‐PBA/PLA blend, which showed that NR grafted with PBA is compatible with PLA, and accounted for the efficient toughening effect on PLA. The elongation at break and the impact strength were significantly improved with an increase in NR‐g‐PBA content. The thermal stability of PLA decreased when blended with NR but was retained with NR‐g‐PBA. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry