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Graphene oxide crosslinker for the enhancement of mechanical properties of polylactic acid
Author(s) -
Sujan Majharul Islam,
Sarkar Stephen Don,
Roy Chanchal Kumar,
Ferdous Mohammad,
Goswami Ankur,
Gafur Md Abdul,
Azam Md Shafiul
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2642-4169
pISSN - 2642-4150
DOI - 10.1002/pol.20210029
Subject(s) - polylactic acid , materials science , biopolymer , condensation polymer , polymer , graphene , oxide , compressive strength , chemical engineering , compression molding , polymer chemistry , composite material , nanotechnology , engineering , metallurgy , mold
Polylactic acid (PLA) biopolymer appears to provide environmental advantages over the petroleum‐derived polymers but often ends up with limited applications owing to their poor mechanical performance and brittleness. Herein, we present a PLA polymer compatible graphene oxide (GO) based crosslinker with the intention of improving the mechanical properties. Lactic acid (LA) functionalized GO (GO‐LA) crosslinker was prepared and had been crosslinked with the PLA chains through a one‐step polycondensation reaction. The mechanical properties of the as‐synthesized GO crosslinked PLA (GO‐C‐PLA) were investigated by compression tests and compared with neat PLA, and GO reinforced PLA (GO‐PLA) with no crosslinking. With 0.3% of GO‐LA crosslinker in GO‐C‐PLA, the compressive modulus increased by nine times compared to that of the neat PLA. The compressive strength also increased to 46 MPa, which was four times higher than the neat PLA. This strategy for improving the mechanical properties by introducing GO‐based crosslinker can be used potentially for many polycondensation polymers and thus be useful for many high‐performance applications.