Mechanical properties of biodegradable PLA/PCL blend films prepared with α-tocopherol
| Main Authors: | Nudem Deniz, Sennur Deniz |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article Journal |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/5665619 |
Daftar Isi:
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, Davutpasa, Istanbul, Turkey E-mail: nudem.denizz@gmail.com, deniz@yildiz.edu.tr Manuscript received online 20 October 2020, revised and accepted 31 October 2020 Biodegradable blends of PLA and PCL were prepared by solution-blending method based on the complementary mechanical properties between both rigid PLA and ductile PCL. PLA/PCL blend films was prepared using different mass fraction of each component. We then evaluated the addition of α-tocopherol (α-Toc) as antioxidant agent in the blends. The mechanical properties of PLA/PCL biodegradable films were investigated by adding α-Toc in the range of 1.5–3.5 wt.%. Based on this, α-Toc was added to improve the mechanical and barrier properties of the PLA/PCL blend films. With the increase of PCL ratio in PLA/PCL blends, the modulus of elasticity decreased and the elongation at break increased. In addition, it was observed that the opacity of the film increased with increasing PCL ratio. With the addition of α-Toc to PLA-%20/PCL-%80 blend, the elongation at break increased compared to that of this film prepared without α-Toc. However, with the increase of α-Toc percentage in the PLA/PCL films, the elongation at break decreased and the Young’s modulus increased. The best mechanical properties for flexible packaging film were seen with the film to which α-Toc was added at 1.5 wt.% . As a result, biodegradable PLA/PCL blend films with desired mechanical properties for packaging film can be obtained by adding PCL to PLA matrix containing with α-Toc as antioxidant additive.