Enhanced thermal stability of “environmentally friendly” biodegradable poly(Lactic acid) blends with cellulose acetate. an experimental and molecular modeling study
Funding Number
FY15/51
Funding Sponsor
American University in Cairo
Author's Department
Chemistry Department
Document Type
Research Article
Publication Title
Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Abstract
© 2017 by the authors. Cellulose acetate (CA) is added to the “Environmentally friendly” poly(lactic acid) (PLA) to improve its materials stiffness and thermal stability for use in various applications. Stress-strain showed that small amounts of CA had contributed to PLA flexibility while maintaining high values for the stress. The improved mechanical properties of the samples signifies the stability of the blend due to the formation of 3D-hydrogen bonding network between the CA and PLA chains as indicated by FTIR analysis. Extended thermal degradation highlighted the susceptibility of neat PLA chains to degradation over extended periods of time. The presence of CA component protected PLA chains as a result of the crosslinking between the resultant free radicals and the polymeric chains, which increased the molecular weight of the samples and its overall toughness. Molecular simulations showed that enthalpy of mixing had positive values at low temperatures indicating blend instability as the entropic contribution to free energy of mixing was not sufficient to overcome the enthalpic-driven phase separation. Greater free energy values at higher PLA content coincided with the experimental observation that blends with high PLA content showed appreciable mechanical response whereas those with higher CA content showed no mechanical integrity as predicted by molecular modeling.
First Page
2230
Last Page
2237
Recommended Citation
APA Citation
Ibrahim, A.
Zikry, A.
&
Madkour, T. M.
(2017). Enhanced thermal stability of “environmentally friendly” biodegradable poly(Lactic acid) blends with cellulose acetate. an experimental and molecular modeling study. Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry, 7(6), 2230–2237.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/faculty_journal_articles/1049
MLA Citation
Ibrahim, Ahmed H., et al.
"Enhanced thermal stability of “environmentally friendly” biodegradable poly(Lactic acid) blends with cellulose acetate. an experimental and molecular modeling study." Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry, vol. 7,no. 6, 2017, pp. 2230–2237.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/faculty_journal_articles/1049