Utilization of ultrafine acrylate rubber particles as a toughening agent for poly(lactic acid)

► Maximum reduction of the flexural modulus and the tensile modulus was achieved by 20 and 45% respectively when the acrylate rubber was applied at 10 wt%. ► The tensile elongation at break of the rubber-modified PLA was also raised around 50 times from the 3.5% observed in the neat PLA to 200%. ► The toughening efficiency of the ultrafine rubber particles was also reflected through the significant increase in the impact strength by fourfolds. ► The mechanism of crazing was found to be a major toughening mechanism of the acrylate rubber modified-PLA system.