Biodegradation and mechanical property of polylactic acid/thermoplastic starch blends with poly (ethylene glycol)

• Published in: Journal of Wuhan University of Technology. Materials science edition Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 157 - 162
• Main Authors: Xue, Ping, Wang, Kejian, Jia, Mingyin, Yang, Meijuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Wuhan University of Technology 01.02.2013; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomaterials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Materials Science; biodegradation; polylactic acid; mechanical property; starch
• ISSN: 1000-2413; 1993-0437
• DOI: 10.1007/s11595-013-0658-9

The effects of adding poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) into polylactic acid/thermoplastic starch blends (PLA/TPS) on the properties were investigated by DSC, SEM and mechanical property-testing. The blends of PLA/TPS blended with increasing content PEG exhibited lower temperature of glass transition ( T g ) and lower temperature of melting ( T m ) as well as higher melt flow index (MFI), which indicates the plasticization and processability of the composites were dramatically improved. The tensile strength, flexural strength and izod impact strength of PLA/TPS (80/20) increased at first and then decreased with increasing content of PEG due to stronger interfacial adhesion. The optimized mechanical property can be obtained for the blend with 3 wt % PEG. The samples containing PEG after soil burial for 5 months showed quicker degradation being accompanied with large weight loss and mechanical properties loss.