Mechanical Properties and Phase Morphology of Poly(Lactic Acid)/Polyamide 12

Abstract

In order to improve the brittleness of Poly(lactic acid) (PLA), the effect of blending several kinds of polyamide 12 (PA12) with PLA through Reactive Processing (RP) method was investigated. During RP, a maleic anhydride-grafted PLA (MAPLA) was synthesized as a pre-compatibilizer before blending PA12. From the result of static tensile test of PLA/PA12 with MAPLA, the elongation at break was increased and impact strength was increased as well. From the SEM observation results of PLA/PA12 with/without MAPLA, the diameter of PA12 phase in PLA with MAPLA was getting smaller than that of PA12 phase in PLA without MAPLA, which was good agreement with the mechanical properties of PLA/PA12 with/without MAPLA.