Jose Luis Orellana, Michael Mauhar, Christopher L. Kitchens*
Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.4, No.5, pp. 340-350, 2016, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2016.634126
Abstract Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most widely used biodegradable polymers due to the ability to synthesize it economically at industrial scale and its favorable properties for many consumer products. However, the rigid nature of PLA is not desirable for specific applications, requiring the incorporation of effective bioderived additives in order to enhance the PLA toughness and broaden applications. In this work, PLA was modified by graft polymerization of polyacrylic acid (PLA-g-PAA) to increase the hydrophilicity to promote compatibilization of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) or high molecular polyethylene glycol (PEG). CNCs were found to act as a nucleating agent for… More >
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