Flexible plasticized PLA with high crystallinity obtained by controlling the annealing temperature

Abstract

In this study, plasticized polylactide (PLA) was prepared by blending PLA with high stereoregularity and poly(ethylene glycol-co-propylene glycol) (PEPG) in a batch wise mixer and pressed into films. The influence of annealing temperature on the thermal properties and tensile properties of quenched plasticized PLA was investigated by DSC, DMA and tensile tests. It was found that plasticized PLA after cold crystallization can keep its high flexibility with an elongation at break over 300% by choosing a proper annealing temperature. The difference of crystallization morphology formed at the different annealing temperature was thought as a possible reason for this result.