Effect of Poly(Ethylene Glycol)-Poly(d-Lactide) Block Copolymers on the Microstructure and Performances of Poly(l-Lactide)/Rubber Blends
Huili Liu
Chongqing Key Laboratory for Resource Utilization of Heavy Metal Wastewater, School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Investigation (lead), Supervision (lead), Writing - original draft (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorLuyao Su
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Materials Surface & Interface Science, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Contribution: Data curation (lead), Software (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorRuihan Li
Chongqing Key Laboratory for Resource Utilization of Heavy Metal Wastewater, School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Contribution: Formal analysis (lead), Investigation (supporting)
Search for more papers by this authorLiting Wang
Chongqing Key Laboratory for Resource Utilization of Heavy Metal Wastewater, School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Contribution: Investigation (supporting), Validation (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Dongyu Bai
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Materials Surface & Interface Science, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Correspondence:
Dongyu Bai ([email protected]; [email protected])
Contribution: Funding acquisition (lead), Resources (lead), Supervision (supporting), Writing - review & editing (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorHuili Liu
Chongqing Key Laboratory for Resource Utilization of Heavy Metal Wastewater, School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Investigation (lead), Supervision (lead), Writing - original draft (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorLuyao Su
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Materials Surface & Interface Science, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Contribution: Data curation (lead), Software (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorRuihan Li
Chongqing Key Laboratory for Resource Utilization of Heavy Metal Wastewater, School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Contribution: Formal analysis (lead), Investigation (supporting)
Search for more papers by this authorLiting Wang
Chongqing Key Laboratory for Resource Utilization of Heavy Metal Wastewater, School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Contribution: Investigation (supporting), Validation (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Dongyu Bai
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Materials Surface & Interface Science, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
Correspondence:
Dongyu Bai ([email protected]; [email protected])
Contribution: Funding acquisition (lead), Resources (lead), Supervision (supporting), Writing - review & editing (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorFunding: This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51903025, 51903027); Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (cstc2020jcyj-msxmX0983, CSTB2022NSCQ-MSX0353, CSTB2023NSCQ-LZX0058); Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission (KJQN202201335, KJZD-K202301311).
ABSTRACT
In this article, poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(d-lactide) (PEG-PDLA) block copolymers with different PEG chain lengths were synthesized and melt-mixed with poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) and rubber nanoparticles. The role of PEG-PDLA block copolymers in tailoring the microstructures and performances of PLLA/rubber blend were investigated in detail. It was found that high contents of stereocomplex (SC) crystals were generated in PLLA/rubber/PEG-PDLA copolymer blends, which induced rubber nanoparticles to agglomerate and form network-like structures. The size of rubber aggregates and continuity of rubber network-like structures first increased and then declined significantly as the PEG chain length increased. Resultingly, the impact toughness of PLLA/rubber/PEG-PDLA copolymer blends first remarkably increased to 74.1 kJ/m2 and then decreased to 30.6 kJ/m2. Meanwhile, the elongation at break increased with increasing PEG chain length and little loss of tensile strength happened, revealing good stiffness-toughness balance performances of PLLA/rubber/PEG-PDLA copolymer blends. Moreover, the matrix crystallization rate of PLLA/rubber/PEG-PDLA copolymer blends could be greatly increased by increasing PEG chain length and the PLLA/rubber/PEG-PDLA copolymer blends exhibited much higher Vicat softening temperatures than PLLA/rubber blend, which confirmed the excellent heat resistance of PLLA/rubber/PEG-PDLA copolymer blends. These interesting findings suggested that PEG-PDLA block copolymers were highly conducive to prepare PLLA materials with outstanding comprehensive performances.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Research
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Supporting Information
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Data S1. |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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