The Open Materials Science Journal

2017, 11 : 22-28
Published online 2017 July 31. DOI: 10.2174/1874088X01711010022
Publisher ID: TOMSJ-11-22

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Preparation and Physical Performance of Green Poly(L-lactic acid) Composition by Blending with Starch

Yan-Hua Cai, * , Qian Zheng and Wen-Jiang Guo

* Address correspondence to this author at the Chongqing Key Laboratory of Environmental Materials & Remediation Technologies, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Yongchuan, Chongqing-402160, P.R. China, Tel: ???; E-mail: caiyh651@aliyun.com

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To develop more green polymer composites and further know the performance of green composites, the composites based on green poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and starch were fabricated by a counter-rotating mixer. And effect of starch on the fluidity and nucleating performance of PLLA was investigated using melt index instrument, optical depolarizer and wide angle X-ray diffraction instrument, respectively.

Method and Conclusion:

The fluidity of PLLA/starch composites showed that, compared to the neat PLLA, the addition of starch made the fluidity of PLLA increase significantly and the melt mass flow rate of PLLA/5%starch sample had the maximum value 13.36 g/10min. In addition, the introduction of starch could also increase the crystallization rate of PLLA through isothermal crystallization measurement and x-ray diffraction analysis, the maximum value of crystallization rate of PLLA/starch composites appeared in low crystallization temperature zone, and 10 wt% starch could make the t1/2 of PLLA decrease from 3999.4s to 421.4s.

Keywords:

Poly(L-lactic acid), Starch, Green composites, Nucleating performance, Fluidity, Crystalization.