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Simultaneously Strengthening and Toughening Biodegradable Polylactic Acid/Thermoplastic Starch Blends by Compatibilizing with Epoxy-Terminated Hyperbranched Polyester

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Abstract

Thermoplastic starch (TPS) as a renewable filler and biodegradable polyester polylactic acid (PLA) blending is a cost-effective and feasible method. To improve the performance and compatibility of PLA/TPS blends, an epoxy-terminated hyperbranched polymer (EHBP) was designed and synthesized. The end epoxide group of EHBP formed chemical micro-crosslinking with the carboxyl group and hydroxyl group of PLA and TPS, thus improving the compatibility between PLA and TPS. The formation of chemical micro-crosslinks and improved compatibility of PLA/TPS blends were demonstrated. The tensile strength, elongation at break, impact strength, composite viscosity and energy storage modulus of the blends were significantly improved. When the EHBP content reached 5phr, the tensile strength, elongation at break and impact strength of the sample increased by 115.01%, 341.11% and 205.51%, respectively. However, the addition of EHBP resulted in a lower crystallinity and a slight decrease in biodegradability due to the occurrence of chemical micro-crosslinking. Nevertheless, the use of EHBP has great potential in PLA/TPS biodegradable packaging materials.

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The authors will supply the relevant data in response to reasonable requests.

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Funding

The authors are grateful to the financial support of Beijing Young Top-notch Personnel Foundation (CIT&TCD201804030).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, People’s Republic of China

    Maolin Guo, Yujuan Jin, Xiaolong Han, Jianjian Sun, Huafeng Tian & Jing Hu

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Quality Evaluation Technology for Hygiene and Safety of Plastics, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, People’s Republic of China

    Maolin Guo, Yujuan Jin, Xiaolong Han, Jianjian Sun, Huafeng Tian & Jing Hu

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  1. Maolin Guo
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Contributions

MG, YJ, HT and JH: The experimental idea was proposed. GM: The method design and data analysis were conducted. XH and JS: The preparation of experimental materials was completed. Maolin Guo wrote the main manuscript text and prepared all the figures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yujuan Jin, Huafeng Tian or Jing Hu.

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Guo, M., Jin, Y., Han, X. et al. Simultaneously Strengthening and Toughening Biodegradable Polylactic Acid/Thermoplastic Starch Blends by Compatibilizing with Epoxy-Terminated Hyperbranched Polyester. J Polym Environ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-023-03113-4

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