Thermal and mechanical properties of poly(lactic acid)/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)/calcium carbonate composite with single continuous morphology

Abstract

Poly(lactic acid)/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) with a content ratio of 90/10, and its calcium carbonate (CaCO3) composites with nano- and micro-sized particles were prepared by melt mixing. The dependence of thermal and mechanical properties of the composites on the particle size and addition content of the CaCO3 filler was investigated. The composite containing five parts micro-sized filler (abbreviated as 90L10B5mC, similarly hereinafter) exhibited α and α′ crystallines on cooling as 90L10B without fillers. 90L10B11mC and 90L10B11n5mC exhibited only α′ crystalline, and the others exhibited no discernible crystalline. Jeziorny method showed that the crystallization mode of poly(lactic acid) chains in different composites was close, and Mo method showed that the crystal growth mode in 90L10B11n5mC was different from others. Changes in thermal and mechanical properties were attributed to the overall connection strength which was dependent on the particle size and addition content of the CaCO3 filler. From the perspective of industrialization, 90L10B5n11mC was preferred.

Keywords

• nano-sized calcium carbonate
• micro-sized calcium carbonate
• poly(lactic acid)
• poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)
• non-isothermal crystallization