Self-Reinforced Poly(Lactic Acid) (Pla) Composites With Enhanced Impact Performance, Tensile Properties And Heat Resistance

The inherent brittleness and poor thermal resistance of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) are two main challenges towards a wider industrial application of this bioplastic. In the present work, through the development of self-reinforced PLA (SR-PLA) or "all-PLA" composites, the high brittleness and low heat deflection temperature (HDT) of PLA have been overcome, while simultaneously improving the tensile strength and modulus of SR-PLA. The obtained composites are fully biobased, recyclable and under the right conditions compostable. For the creation of SR-PLA composites, first a tape extrusion process was optimized to ensure superior mechanical properties. The results show that SR-PLA composites exhibited enhanced moduli (2.5 times) and tensile strengths (2 times) and showed 14 times increase in impact energy compared to neat PLA. Finally, the HDT of SR-PLA was also increased by about 26 degrees C compared to neat PLA, which is mainly derived from the increase in modulus and crystallinity.