Abstract
To improve flexibility of poly(lactic acid), PLA, different amounts of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, EVA, with 28% vinyl acetate monomer were added as a toughing agent. The optimum composition of EVA in EVA/PLA blends was determined for preparing the nanocomposites. Nano-sized clay (DK4) was used to improve mechanical and barrier properties of PLA. PLA/EVA blends and PLA/EVA/DK4 nanocomposite films were prepared by solvent casting method. Resultant nanocomposites and blends were characterized by tensile tests. It was found that by adding just 3 wt% of EVA to PLA, elongation at break of PLA increased by approximately 300% while tensile strength decreased only 4%. Then PLA/EVA3 blend was chosen for producing nanocomposite with 1, 3, and 5 pph of nanoclay. Introducing 1 pph nanoclay compensated for the strength decrease due to adding EVA. The elongation at break for the nanocomposites was still higher than that of pure PLA (about 225%). These results show success in toughening PLA.
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Zaji, M., Frounchi, M. (2020). Mechanical Properties of Poly(Lactic Acid)/Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Copolymer/Nanoclay Composites as Biodegradable Packaging Films. In: Mirzadeh, H., Katbab, A. (eds) Eco-friendly and Smart Polymer Systems. ISPST 2018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45085-4_123
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45085-4_123
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