Improvement thermomechanical properties of polylactic acid via titania nanofillers reinforcement

Abstract

Poly lactic acid (PLA) is a useful alternative to petrochemical commodity material used in food packaging, due to its low thermal stability and poor crystallization behaviour, it needs to improve its properties in namely terms of thermal and mechanical performance. Neat PLA was reinforced nanofiller TiO2 (titania) to improve its characteristics. Thus, the film of neat PLA and PLA nanocomposites were prepared using solvent casting and hot press methods. Diverse techniques characterized Asprepared films. To enhance the PLA miscibility, TiO2 nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed in the PLA matrix to attain a low degree of agglomeration as explained by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). Both XRD and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses of the reinforced nanocomposites disclosed an improvement in their crystallinity increased from 17.52 to 30.91. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) indicated that the storage modulus was improved with increased TiO2 content, increased from 3.13 GPa to 3.26 GPa. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results show that the addition of nanofiller improved thermal stability of the PLA nanocomposites was modified. On the other hand, the reinforced PLA nanocomposites with improved biodegradable behavior were shown to be the potential substitute of conventional petrochemical-based polymers widespread in the food packaging industries.