Influence of some crosslinking agents on thermal and mechanical properties of electron beam irradiated polylactide

The aim of this article was to determine and compare the influence of trimethylopropane trimethacylate (TMPTA) and trially isocyanurate (TAIC) crosslinking agents on thermal and mechanical properties of electron beam irradiated polylactide (PLA). The blends were made of PLA mixed with 3 wt% of TMPTA (PLA/TMPTA), and PLA mixed with 3 wt% of TAIC (PLA/TAIC). Injection moulded samples were irradiated with the use of high energy (10 MeV) electron beam at various radiation doses to crosslinking PLA macromolecules. Thermal and mechanical properties were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile strength, and impact strength measurements. The samples were also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was found that under the influence of electron irradiation PLA/TMPTA samples underwent degradation while PLA/TAIC samples became crosslinked. Tensile and impact strengths of PLA/TMPTA samples decreased with increasing radiation dose while an enhancement of these properties for PLA/TAIC samples was observed.