Improvement of mechanical properties and heat distortion temperature of polylactic acid by highly aromatic hyperbranched polyamide
Jianjian Sun, Yansong Huang, Yu Jin, Huafeng Tian, Shuang Men
Abstract
Abstract The highly aromatic hyperbranched polyamide (HBPA) was synthesized and used as a modifier in order to enhance the physical performance of polylactic acid (PLA). The results showed that compared to the neat PLA, the tensile strength of the PLA/HBPA blends increased by 41.8%; fracture energy increased by 42.8% when the content of HBPA was 1.0 phr. The addition of HBPA can significantly improve the thermal deformation temperature of PLA. The polarized optical microscope images suggested that HBPA can act as a nucleating agent for PLA during the isothermal crystallization. This research indicated HBPA exhibits excellent reinforcing effect for PLA, due to the formation of hydrogen bonds and/or chemical crosslinking between HBPA and PLA.