Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15255/KUI.2018.011
Thermal Properties of Biodegradable PLA/TPS Blends
Vesna Ocelić Bulatović
; Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 19 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Emi Govorčin Bajsić
; Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 19 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Dajana Kučić Grgić
orcid.org/0000-0001-8427-6482
; Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 19 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Antun Jozinović
orcid.org/0000-0001-9627-1013
; Faculty of Food Technology, University of Osijek, Franje Kuhača 20, 31 000 Osijek, Croatia
Abstract
In this paper, thermal properties of polylactide (PLA) and thermoplastic starch (TPS) blends with different proportions of TPS were investigated. TPS at different ratios of glycerol (30 and 40 wt. %) as a plasticizer, were prepared. To gain an insight into the hydrophilic/hydrophobic character of the PLA/TPS blends, water absorption was performed. The results of thermal properties indicated that TPS enhanced the cold crystallization process of polylactide due to the nucleation effect of TPS. TPS increases the ability of the PLA crystallization and provides a more accurate alignment of polylactide chains in the crystal structure. The effect of glycerol as a TPS plasticizer has no significant role in the thermal properties, while water absorption testing has shown that with higher glycerol content as TPS plasticizers, lower water absorption values of PLA/TPS blend are obtained.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Keywords
polylactide; thermoplastic starch; plastification; glycerol; thermal properties; water absorption
Hrčak ID:
207027
URI
Publication date:
14.12.2018.
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