Abstract
In this study, we tried the "hybrid" interface control using both pectin and chitosan in HAp/PLA composites. Here, photo-dissociable protective groups, which can be eliminated from the protection site by the irradiation of ultraviolet rays, was applied into the carboxyl groups of pectin, in order to avoid the direct chemical reaction between pectin and chitosan. As results of tensile tests, tensile properties of HAp/PLA were markedly improved by the hybrid interface control. It is notable that fracture energy increased as more than 20 times by the proposed hybrid interface control as a result of the increase in fracture strain. This means that the hybrid interface control was successfully achieved for HAp/PLA composites. Finally, the effect of the hybrid interface control on the fracture behavior of HAp/PLA composite materials was discussed from the viewpoint of the interfacial mesoscopic structures, based on the fracture surface observation.
