Preparation and characterization of PLLA/OMMT–MAH nanocomposite by esterification method

Abstract

In this study, in order to avoid the serious degradation of poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) caused by maleic anhydride (MAH) while taking advantages of its interfacial compatibility, an esterification between OMMT and MAH was designed to form OMMT–MAH composite. The experiments showed that the esterification rate of OMMT (100 °C, without oxygen and using cyclohexanone as a solvent) is 6.5%. Compared with pure PLA, PLA/OMMT–MAH (OMMT–MAH 1 wt%) obtained an optimum performance except impacting strength. And the crystallinity increased from 6.36 to 9.49%. Compared with composites without initiator, the mechanical properties of composites with initiator improved slightly except bending modulus, which indicated that double bond on OMMT–MAH was opened under the effect of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and connected with PLLA main chain by bonding. In this study, a novel method to modify MMT was found, and it was an effective way to improve the performance of PLLA.