Blends of polylactide and poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) with low content of hydroxyvalerate unit: Morphology, structure, and property. Issue 42 (29th July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Qingsheng; Wu, Cong; Zhang, Hongxia; Deng, Bingyao
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied polymer science. Volume 132:Issue 42(2015)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2015-07-29
• Subjects: Polymers -- Periodicals; Polymerization -- Periodicals; 668.9
• DOI: 10.1002/app.42689
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8995

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>ABSTRACT</title> <p>The Polylactide (PLA)/poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐<italic>co</italic>‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) blends with four different weight ratios were prepared by melt mixing. PLA and PHBV in PLA/PHBV blends were immiscible while the weak interaction between PLA and PHBV existed. The PHBV domains below 2 μm were dispersed in PLA matrix uniformly. The addition of PHBV made the crystallization of PLA easier due to PHBV acting as nucleating agent. PLA spherulites in PLA/PHBV blends presented various banded structures. In addition, the crystallinity of neat PLA was lower than those of PLA/PHBV blends. With the increase of PHBV content in PLA/PHBV blends, the crystallinity of PLA/PHBV blends increased. PHBV could enhance significantly the toughness of PLA. However, with the increase of PHBV content, the yield stress (σ<italic>_y</italic>), tensile modulus (<italic>E</italic>), and the yield strain (ε<italic>_y</italic>) of PLA/PHBV blends decreased gradually. In addition, incorporation of PHBV to PLA caused a transformation from an optical transparent to an opaque system. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. <bold>2015</bold>, <italic>132</italic>, 42689.</p> </abstract>