| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5178388 | Polymer | 2017 | 5 Pages |
â¢mPEI with PLLA terminals was synthesized via lactide ring opening polymerization.â¢mPEI provides free volume whereas PLLA terminals enhances crystallization of PLA.â¢mPEI-PLLA was an effective plasticizer to improve the elongation of PLA for 280%.â¢mPEI-PLLA was miscible to PLA as evidenced by a single Tg of the PLA blend.
The present work demonstrates the function of multi-branched poly(l-lactide) based on polyethylenimine cores (mPEI-PLLA) as an additive to drastically enhance the elongation of PLA resin. By simply applying mPEI as the core molecule with a catalytic amount of tin octoate, LLA ring-opening polymerization is accomplished to result in multi-branched PLLA, i.e. mPEI-PLLA. The blend of mPEI-PLLA with PLA in the film form represents the significant increase of elongation at break for as high as 280% without significant changes in Tg, indicating the role of branching PLLA to induce amorphous phase in the packing structure of PLA. The ease of mPEI-PLLA preparation and the superb elongation at break provided to PLA convince us that mPEI-PLLA is a practical miscible additive to solve the brittleness of PLA.
Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (413KB)Download full-size image
