Application of ionic liquid [bmim]PF6 as green plasticizer for poly(L-lactide)

Abstract

Ionic liquid [bmim]PF6 (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluoro phosphate) was synthesized and characterized. It was used as the plasticizer for poly(L-lactide) (PLLA). The glass transition temperature (Tg) and the thermal stability of the plasticized PLLA samples were measured by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Compared with poly(ethylene glycol) having Mw of 300 g/mol (PEG300), TG results showed that the thermal stability of PLLA plasticized with ionic liquid was better than that of PLLA plasticized with PEG300. The Tg of plasticized PLLA decrease with increasing the content of ionic liquid [bmim]PF6 from 2 wt.% to 10 wt.%. The Tg of PLLA can be reduced to 40°C when the content of ionic liquid [bmim]PF6 was 10 wt.%. The materials of PLLA with plasticizer were also investigated using polarizing microscope (POM), the results of which indicate that the movements of PLLA chains were improved when ionic liquid plasticizer was used.