Poly(lactic acid)/palygorskite nanocomposites: Enhanced the physical and thermal properties

摘要

Poly(lactic acid)/palygorskite (PA) nanocomposites were fabricated through the melt compounding. The significant finding by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that PA acted as a nucleating agent and accelerated the crystallization process of neat PLA. Consequently, a PLA crystallization peak appeared in all nanocomposites. With increasing PA content, the crystallization temperature increased from 92.1 degrees C to 99.6 degrees C. Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) indicated that the incorporation of PA hindered the motion of the PLA chains in the matrix, thereby increasing the maximum service temperature of the PLA. The storage modulus, G, of the nanocomposite reached a plateau in the low frequency region which indicated formation of a network structure due to the increased interaction sites. The PLA/PA nanocomposites showed significant improvement in physical and thermal properties. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:1600-1608, 2017. (c) 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers