A comparative study on the reactive compatibilization of melt-processed polyamide 1010/polylactide blends by multi-functionalized additives derived from linseed oil and petroleum

Abstract

This research work describes the manufacturing and characterization of novel engineering materials consisted of fully bio-based blends of polyamide 1010 (PA1010) with 20 wt% of polylactide (PLA). Four different compatibilizers were used to enhance the miscibility and the performance of the biopolymer blends. Two multi-functionalized vegetable oils (maleinized linseed oil (MLO) and epoxidized linseed oil (ELO)) and two petroleum-derived glycidyl-based additives (epoxy styrene-acrylic oligomer (ESAO) and styrene-glycidyl methacrylate copolymer (PS-GMA)) were tested during melt compounding. The resultant biopolymer blends were processed by either cast film extrusion or injection molding to obtain films and pieces, respectively. Thin films with an average thickness of 50–60 µm and thick pieces of 4 mm were obtained, and their mechanical, morphological, thermal, thermomechanical, barrier and, optical properties were characterized. Although all four compatibilizers successfully provided compatibilization to the blends, the chemically modified vegetable oils, that is, MLO and ELO yielded the injection-molded pieces with the most balanced mechanical properties in terms of strength and toughness. Besides, the resultant films showed very low oxygen transmission rate values, thus broadening the potential of these biopolymer blends for the food packaging industry.

Keywords

• biopolymers, biocomposites
• bio-based polyamides
• multi-functionalized vegetable oils
• reactive compatibilization