The effects of dioctyl phthalate plasticization on the morphology and thermal,mechanical, and rheological properties of chemical crosslinked polylactide

The tensile strength and thermal stability of polylactide (PLA) were significantly improved through chemical crosslinking. However, it became much more rigid and brittle. To obtain a material with good thermal stability and enhanced ability to plastic deformation, chemical crosslinked PLA with 0.5 wt % triallyl isocyanurate and 0.5 wt % dicumyl peroxide was blended with different contents of dioctyl phthalate (DOP). The advantage of using DOP is that it does not crystallize, has low glass transition temperature, and is miscible with PLA. The morphology and the thermal and mechanical properties of the crosslinked PLA and the blends of crosslinked PLA with various contents of DOP were investigated by means of scanning electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, tensile test, and dynamic mechanical analysis. The rheological properties of samples were also explored by using a capillary rheometer. The results showed that the DOP was an effective plasticizer for the chemical crosslinked PLA, resulting in a significantly decreased T_g, lower yield stress, and improved elongation at break. The plasticization effect was enhanced by adding higher DOP content. In addition, the DOP enhanced the crystallinity of crosslinked PLA, and all the crosslinked samples showed better heat stability than neat PLA. The apparent viscosity of the blends decreased with the increase of DOP content and a phase separation occurred when the content of DOP exceeded 12.5 wt %. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 1136–1145, 2009