| Summary: | Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/6 wt% halloysite nanotube (HNT) nanocomposites
were prepared using melt compounding followed by compression molding. Two types of
impact modifiers, i.e., maleic anhydride grafted styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene
copolymer (SEBS-g-MA) and N,N'-ethylenebis(stearamide) (EBS) were used to toughen
the PLA nanocomposites. The effects of water absorption on the thermal and impact
properties of PLA/HNT at three different temperatures (i.e. 30°C, 40°C and 50°C) were
investigated. The diffusion coefficient (D) of PLA was decreased by the incorporation of
HNT and impact modifiers. It was found that the activation energy of water absorption
(Ea) of PLA/HNT6/EBS is higher than that of PLA/HNT6/SEBS-g-MA nanocomposites.
The reduction of impact strength, glass transition temperature (Tg), cold-crystallisation
temperature (Tcc), and melting temperature (Tm) of the PLA samples is attributed to the
hydrolytic degradation of PLA.
|
|---|