Synthesis, characterization, and hydrolytic degradation of polylactide/poly(ϵ-caprolactone)/nano-silica composites. Issue 11 (2nd November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Yangshuo; Liu, Guoyu; Li, Ming; He, Chiyang
• Is Part Of: Journal of macromolecular science. Volume 54:Issue 11(2017)
• Page Start: 813
• Page End: 818
• Publication Date: 2017-11-02
• Subjects: PLA/PCL matrix -- Nano-silica -- Mechanical properties -- Hydrolytic degradation; Polymers -- Periodicals; Polymerization -- Periodicals; 547.7
• DOI: 10.1080/10601325.2017.1336726
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1060-1325

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(ϵ-caprolactone) (PCL)/nano-silica composite degradable films were prepared by a solvent casting method. SEM results showed that the nano-silica particles were dispersed uniformly in the PLA/PCL matrix. TGA results indicated that the thermal decomposition temperature rose with the increase of nano-silica content. The tensile strength of the composites was enhanced with the increase of nano-silica content up to 2%. The tensile strength increased with the silica content and reached its maximum (22.51 Mpa). The improvement in the water uptake ratio in the PLA/PCL/silica nanocomposites may be attributable to the presence of silica nanoparticles in the PLA/PCL matrix. After 15 weeks total processing time for the solution of alkaline and phosphate buffer, the performances of 16.23% and 3.65% for degradation.