Electrical properties of heat-treated poly-lactic acid

Abstract

Poly-lactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic, has excellent electrical insulation properties at temperatures ranging from room temperature to around 70°C. At temperatures higher than 70°C, however, the insulation performance of PLA deteriorates due to its poor heat resistance. In this study, PLA was heat-treated at 100°C to endow it with greater heat resistance, and the effects that this heat treatment had on the electrical properties of PLA were investigated. Before being subjected to heat treatment, crystallinity (xc) of PLA was about 6%. After the heat treatment was begun, x c increased in proportion to the heat treatment time, such that measurements revealed that xc had increased to about 42% by the time 15 minutes had passed since the start of the heat treatment. The temperature dependence of the insulation breakdown strength (EB) of heat-treated PLA was investigated, and it was found that EB of heat-treated PLA (PLA-A) decreases at a more moderate rate at temperatures higher than 60°C. © 2011 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.