Long chain branched structures of polylactic acid through reactive extrusion with styrene-acrylic copolymers bearing epoxy functional groups

The influence and development of structural modifications through a reactive process between polylactic acid (PLA) and an epoxy-functional copolymer were investigated, resulting in complex long chain branching ( LCB ) structures in the copolymer architecture. Structural modifications result in improvements in properties of PLA such as the glass transition temperature ( T g ) which increases up to 6 °C and the percentage of crystallization ( χ c ) that increases up to 324%. Some of these improvements were reflected in thermal stability increases up to 25 °C. The formation of complex structures of the processed materials were assessed by calorimetric, thermogravimetric and rheological studies.