scholarly journals Thermal and Dynamic Mechanical Analyses of Poly(Lactic Acid)/Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Blends

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 526-535
Author(s):  
Benaniba Mohamed Tahar ◽  
Aouachria Kamira

Blends of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with various contents (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 weight %) and with different molecular weights (M¯w = 1000, 4000 and 6000 g/mol), called respectively PEG1, PEG2, and PEG3 were prepared by melt blending. Since glass transition temperature (Tg), T? and loss factor (tan ?) are relevant indicators of polymer chain mobility, plasticization has been studied by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Low molecular weight (LMW) PEG enable increased miscibility with PLA and more efficient reduction of glass transition temperature (Tg) for concentrations of PEG less than 20%. This effect is not only enhanced by the LMW but also by increasing its content up to 20%. As expected, both T? and Tg decrease when increasing PEG molar mass and content up to 20%, which demonstrates the effectiveness of PEG to act as a plasticizer of PLA.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e50010916964
Author(s):  
Leticia Riboldi Cavalli ◽  
Jalma Maria Klein ◽  
Ivana Greice Sandri ◽  
Rosmary Brandalise

This work focused on the development of biodegradable active packaging with poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and chitosan (QUI) blends. It investigated thermal and mechanical morphological characteristics of the blends, as the same time, the antifungal activity of the packaging. To assess the antimicrobial activity of the PLA/EVA/PEG/QUI blends, the samples were inserted between slices of bread with no preservative to the evaluation of their shelf life. By comparing between PLA/EVA/PEG, PLA/EVA/PEG/QUI blends and neat PLA was possible to evidence the partial miscibility, decreased glass transition temperature (Tg) by incorporating PEG into the blends, a decrease in flexural strength of 71% and elasticity modulus of 80.4% to PLA/EVA/PEG/2.5QUI blend, as well as an increase in elongation at break of 153% and 392% to impact toughness. A similar behavior was observed to PLA/EVA/20PEG and PLA/EVA/PEG/5.0QUI. The QUI-containing film among the bread slices has also influenced the water activity reduction, and reduced about 35% in the count of molds and yeasts in the slices of bread. Chitosan in mixtures with PLA/EVA/PEG showed potential as a natural antifungal agent in bakery packaging.


2015 ◽  
Vol 133 (8) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Weraporn Pivsa-Art ◽  
Kazunori Fujii ◽  
Keiichiro Nomura ◽  
Yuji Aso ◽  
Hitomi Ohara ◽  
...  

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