PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BIODEGRADABLE POLYLACTIDE/ETHYLENE METHYL ACRYLATE COPOLYMER BLENDS

摘要

The poly(lactic acid)/ethylene methyl acrylate copolymer (PLA/EMA) blends were melt blended with by a twin-screw extruder. The phase morphologies, mechanical, and rheological properties of the PLA/EMA blends with three weight ratios were investigated. The results showed that the addition of EMA improves the toughness of PLA at the expense of the tensile strength to a certain degree. All the PLA/EMA blends display typical droplet-matrix morphology, and different characteristic linear viscoelastic properties in the low frequency region, which were investigated in terms of their complex viscosity, storage modulus, and Cole-Cole plots. The interfacial tension between the PLA and EMA is calculated using the Palierne model conducted on the 80/20 PLA/EMA blend, and the calculated result is 3.3 mN/m.