Toughening of polylactide with higher loading of nano-titania particles coated by poly(ε-caprolactone)

A novel approach for toughening polylactide (PLA) by nano-titania coated with poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is presented. The composites were mixed by a torque rheometer and the samples were prepared by compression molding successfully. A series of composites was studied with various amounts of titania particles from 0 up to 32.4 wt.%. Tensile test results demonstrated that the strain-at-break of the PLA nanocomposites can be increased greatly with the addition of the titania coated with PCL(C-TiO2). For example, when the C-TiO2 particles were added 26.5 wt.%, the elongation at break was increased to 65%, which surpasses the value ever reported in the future literatures at the similar level of nano-inorganic fillers. SEM showed that coated TiO2, even in high loading level, could be dispersed well in PLA matrix, which is unavailable for the uncoated TiO2.