Natural rubber-based mechanical modifiers for poly(lactic acid)
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Abstract
Poly(lactic acid) (PLA), a compostable and biodegradable polymer, is a high-brittle polymeric material. Therefore, mechanical propertyimprovement of the PLA is challenging byutilization of natural rubber (NR), a green elastomeric and renewable materials. In this study, NR and chemically modified NR to epoxidized NR(ENR) are explored as impact modifiers for the PLA. The as-prepared ENR with 30 mol% epoxide content (E30NR) and NR are melt-blended with PLA at various rubber contents (1 to 5 wt.%). The result illustrates the concurrent increment in elongation ability and impact performance of PLA, approximately elevenfold and twofold,respectively, with adding 5 wt.% E30NR compared with those of NR/PLA blends with the same rubber content. In addition, the 5 wt.% E30NR is an efficient impact modifier for PLA as the elongation at break and the impact strength is increased approximately fifteen and four times, respectively,compared to the PLA. The E30NR/PLA blends launch superior modulus and strength when compared to NR/PLA blends. Furthermore, E30NR/PLA films transparency demonstrated from transmittance percentage shows higher transparency than NR/PLA blend films. Consequently, NR-based utilization as a mechanical modifier could be considered a sustainable and alternative way for the value-addedof NR and increment of PLA’s applications.
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References
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