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Investigation on the Influence of EVA Content on the Mechanical and Thermal Characteristics of Poly(lactic acid) Blends

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Abstract

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has gained considerable attention nowadays as a biocompatible polymer owing to its advantage of being prepared from renewable resources. PLA exhibits excellent tensile strength, fabricability, thermal plasticity and biocompatibility properties comparable to many petroleum based plastics. However, low heat distortion temperature, brittleness and slow crystallization rate limit the practical applications of PLA. In order to address these limitations, an attempt has been made in the current work to prepare binary blends of PLA with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) at different compositions via melt mixing technique. Systematic investigation on the mechanical properties, thermal degradation and crystallization behavior for PLA-EVA blends was carried out. The impact strength of binary blends of PLA–EVA was found to increase significantly by 176% for 15 wt% of EVA compared to virgin PLA. This is due to the strong interfacial adhesion among PLA and EVA resulting in brittle to ductile transition. Scanning electron microscopy analysis for impact fractured surfaces of binary blends of PLA implied the toughening effect of PLA by EVA. Thermogravimetry analysis results revealed that the activation energy of PLA–EVA blends decreased with increase in EVA content in the PLA matrix. While, differential scanning calorimetry results obtained for PLA–EVA blends revealed the improvement in crystallinity when compared with neat PLA. The effect of EVA on non-isothermal melt crystallization kinetics of PLA was also examined via DSC at various heating rates. Decreasing trend in the t 1/2 values indicated the faster rate of crystallization mechanism after addition of EVA in the PLA matrix.

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Acknowledgements

V. H. Sangeetha thankfully acknowledge GREET-ARSTPS-Chennai for financial support for this research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Biopolymer Science and Technology (CBPST), Kochi, Kerala, 683501, India

    V. H. Sangeetha, Ravi Babu Valapa & T. O. Varghese

  2. Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), T.V.K. Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai, 600032, India

    S. K. Nayak

Authors
  1. V. H. Sangeetha
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  2. Ravi Babu Valapa
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  3. S. K. Nayak
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  4. T. O. Varghese
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Correspondence to Ravi Babu Valapa or T. O. Varghese.

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Sangeetha, V.H., Valapa, R.B., Nayak, S.K. et al. Investigation on the Influence of EVA Content on the Mechanical and Thermal Characteristics of Poly(lactic acid) Blends. J Polym Environ 26, 1–14 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-016-0906-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-016-0906-0

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