Abstract
Polymer blends of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with poly (ε-caprolacton) (PCL) and tri-isocyanate (LTI) were developed to improve the fracture resistance of biodegradable PLA. LTI was added to improve the miscibility between PLA and PCL. The study shows that the fracture toughness increases dramatically due to the addition of LTI. Microscopic examination also shows that size of the PCL phase decreases due to the LTI addition, leading to reduction of void formation and suppression of local stress concentration, thus the toughness improvement. The improved miscibility also contributes to the ductility enhancement, which further increases the fracture toughness.
