Transparent and ductile poly(lactic acid)/poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) blends: Structure and properties

Poly(butyl acrylate) was prepared by the free radical polymerization of butyl acrylate as an initiator in the presence of 2,2′-Azoisobu-tyronitrile (AIBN) and the average molecular weight, polydispersity and thermal stability were evaluated. PLA and PBA were melt blended using a Haake Rheometer, and the light transmission, thermal properties, dynamic rheological properties, mechanical properties, phase morphology of blends and toughening mechanism were investigated. Dynamic rheology, SEM and DSC results show that the PLA is partial miscible with PBA. The PBA component improved the crystallization ability of PLA and the crystallinity of PLA increased with content of PBA (<15 wt.%). With the increase of PBA, the tensile strength and modulus of the blend decreased slightly while the elongation at break and toughness were dramatically increased. With the addition of PBA, the failure mode changes from brittle fracture of neat PLA to ductile fracture of the blend. Rheological results revealed the complex viscosity and melt elasticity of the blends decreased with increasing content of PBA and phase segregation occurred at loading above 11 wt.% PBA. UV–vis light transmittance showed that PLA/PBA blends with a high transparency, and the transmittance decreased with the amount of PBA.     

Studies on fracture behaviors of immiscible polypropylene/ethylene‐co‐vinyl acetate blends with multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Immiscible polypropylene/ethylene‐co‐vinyl acetate (PP/EVA) blends with two different compositions, one (PP/EVA = 80/20) exhibits the typical sea‐island morphology and the other (PP/EVA = 60/40) exhibits the cocontinuous morphology, were prepared with different contents of f‐MWCNTs. The fracture behaviors, including notched Izod impact fracture and single‐edge notched tensile (SENT) fracture, were comparatively studied to establish the role of f‐MWCNTs in influencing the fracture toughness of PP/EVA blends. Our results showed that, for PP/EVA (80/20) system, f‐MWCNTs do not induce the fracture behavior change apparently. However, for PP/EVA (60/40) system, the fracture toughness of the blend increases dramatically with the increasing of f‐MWCNTs content. More severe plastic deformation accompanied by the fibrillar structure formation was observed during the SENT test. Furthermore, SENT test shows that the significant improvement in fracture toughness of PP/EVA (60/40) with f‐MWCNTs is contributed to the simultaneous enhancement of crack initiation energy and crack propagation energy, but largely dominated by crack propagation stage. Further results based on crystalline structures and morphologies of the blends showed that a so‐called dual‐network structure of EVA and f‐MWCNTs forms in cocontinuous PP/EVA blends, which is thought to be the main reason for the largely improved fracture toughness of the sample. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 1331–1344, 2009     

Effect of EVA copolymer containing different VA content on the thermal and rheological properties of bio-based high-density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate blends

The effect of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) concentration and vinyl acetate (VA) content of EVA on the mechanical, morphological, and rheological properties of bio-based high-density polyethylene (BioPE)/EVA blends was investigated. The blends were characterized by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and rheological measurements under oscillatory shear flow. The degree of crystallinity of BioPE decreased with the increase in the EVA concentration and was unaffected with the increase in the VA content. DMTA results showed a decrease in the storage modulus (E′) with the increase in EVA content and that the BioPE/EVA19 blends showed higher E′ values than BioPE/EVA28 blend. The impact strength substantially increased with the addition of EVA concentration above 5 mass% and was higher for the blends containing the highest VA content. The blends containing a higher content of VA exhibited the higher EVA dispersed phase domain size, which increased with the increase in EVA concentration. The complex viscosity increased with the increase in the EVA content, being higher for the BioPE/EVA blends containing higher VA content. The storage modulus increased, at low frequencies, with the increase in the EVA content and can be ascribed to the increase in the EVA dispersed phase domain size.

     

(Vapour + liquid) equilibria,densities, excess molar volumes,refractive indices,speed of sound for (methanol + allyl acetate) and (vinyl acetate + allyl acetate)

Isobaric (vapour  +  liquid) equilibria were determined atp =  101.3 kPa for {methanol  +  allyl acetate (3-acetoxy-1-propene)} and {vinyl acetate (1-acetoxyethylene)  +  allyl acetate}. The thermodynamic consistency of the experimental data was determined with a modified Dechema test. The activity coefficients were correlated with Margules, van Laar, NRTL, UNIQUAC, Wilson and ASOG. Densities, excess molar volumes, refractive indices, speed sounds and changes of refractive index and speed sound on mixing have been determined at 298.15 K and the results fitted to Redlich–Kister polynomials. Allyl acetate can be a possible solvent for extractive distillation.     

Morphology and properties of super-toughened bio-based poly(lactic acid)/poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) blends by peroxide-induced dynamic vulcanization and interfacial compatibilization

Super-toughened poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) blends were prepared via 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(tert-butylperoxy)hexane (AD) induced dynamic vulcanization and in situ interfacial compatibilization. The effects of AD on the morphology and properties of PLA/EVA blends were studied using a Brabender torque rheometer, gel content test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and mechanical properties test. The torque and gel content demonstrated that EVA and PLA was successfully vulcanized in the presence of free radicals obtained by the decomposition of the 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(tert-butylperoxy)hexane (AD). Additionally, the gel content results indicated that, compared with PLA, EVA is more aggressive with free radicals. The SEM revealed that a relatively uniform phase morphology and good interfacial compatibilization were achieved in the dynamically vulcanized PLA/EVA/AD blends. The interfacial reaction and compatibilization between the component polymers resulted in the formation of super-toughened PLA/EVA blended materials.     

Highly toughened poly(lactic acid) (PLA) prepared through melt blending with ethylene-co-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer and simultaneous addition of hydrophilic silica nanoparticles and block copolymer compatibilizer

In this study, a highly toughened PLA was prepared through physical melt-blending with EVA at the presence of hydrophilic nanosilica and SEBS-g-MA block copolymer compatibilizer. The effect of nanosilica and compatibilizer on the morphology, mechanical properties, and linear rheology of the PLA/EVA blends was also investigated. According to TEM images, nanosilica was selectively located in the PLA matrix while some were placed on the interface between the two polymers as was also predicted by thermodynamic and kinetic analysis. Upon the addition of nanoparticles, the interfacial adhesion between the phases was enhanced and the average droplet size decreased. Interestingly, incorporation of SEBS-g-MA induced morphological changes as the spherical EVA droplets turned into a cylindrical shape. DSC results indicated that blending with EVA copolymer resulted in the reduction of crystallization of PLA matrix; however, the crystallinity increased at the presence of nanoparticles up to 5 wt%. The addition of compatibilizer considerably hindered the crystallization of the PLA phase. PLA/EVA blend containing optimum levels of nanosilica exhibited considerably enhanced tensile toughness, elongation at break, and impact strength. On the other hand, the simultaneous addition of nanoparticles and SEBS-g-MA led to synergistic toughening effects and the compatibilized blend containing nanosilica exhibited excellent impact toughness. For instance, the elongation at break of the compatibilized PLA/EVA blend containing the optimal content of nanosilica was increased from 7% to 121% (compared to neat sample). The notched Izod impact strength was also increased from 5.1 to 65 kJ/m². Finally, the microstructure of the blends was assessed by rheological measurements.     

Excess volumes of binary mixtures of vinyl acetate and aromatic hydrocarbons

Excess molar volumes of (vinyl acetate  +  toluene, or ethylbenzene, orp -xylene, or isopropylbenzene, or butylbenzene, or isobutylbenzene, or mesitylene, or t -butylbenzene), were determined from density measurements at T =  298.15 K using a vibrating-tube densimeter. The excess molar volumes are positive over the whole composition range, and increase with the size of the hydrocarbon. Steric hindrance in these mixtures was investigated in terms of the partial excess molar volumes behaviour. The experimental data were used to determine the binary interaction parameters of the Soave–Redlich–Kwong (SRK) equation of state for use in multicomponent excess functions calculations.     

聚乳酸/乙烯-醋酸乙烯酯共聚物共混物的形态与黏弹行为

熔融共混制备了不同组分比的聚乳酸(PLA)/乙烯-醋酸乙烯酯共聚物(EVA)共混物,采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、溶剂选择性蚀刻和旋转流变仪研究了共混物不相容的相形态及其黏弹响应.研究结果表明,PLA/EVA共混物为典型的热力学不相容体系,两基体组分间的界面张力约为2.2 mN/m;因此随组分比的不同,共混物表现出"海-岛"分散和双连续的不相容相形态;体系中EVA的相反转浓度约为50 wt%～60 wt%,这与黏性模型对相反点预测的结果一致;与双连续相形态的体系相比,乳液模型能够更好的描述具有"海-岛"分散形态的体系的线性黏弹响应,共混体系相对较宽的相反转区域主要源于两组分间较大的弹性比以及EVA自身的屈服行为.     

Toughening effect of ethylene‐vinyl acetate rubber on nylon 1010 compatibilized by maleated ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymers

The toughening effect of ethylene‐vinyl acetate rubbers (EVM) with maleated ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA‐g‐MAH) on the nylon 1010 was investigated. The addition of 5 phr (per hundred nylon 1010) EVM increased the elongation at break of nylon 1010 to a great extent. The notched Izod impact strength of nylon/EVM blends increased with increasing EVM content. Scanning electron microscope showed that the EVM particle size was around 0.5 μm when the EVM content was 5 phr and increased with increasing EVM content. After the addition of EVA‐g‐MAH to nylon/EVM (100/20) blend, the average diameter of EVM particles decreased from more than 1 μm to 0.5–0.6 μm. EVA‐g‐MAH could improve the adhesion between nylon 1010 and EVM. A sharp brittle‐ductile transition (BDT) was observed when the interparticle distance was about 0.2 μm, independent of the addition of EVA‐g‐MAH. The notched Izod impact strength of nylon/EVM blends at low temperatures was measured and the BDT shifted toward low temperatures with increasing EVM or EVA‐g‐MAH content. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 434–444, 2009     

Influence of some crosslinking agents on thermal and mechanical properties of electron beam irradiated polylactide

The aim of this article was to determine and compare the influence of trimethylopropane trimethacylate (TMPTA) and trially isocyanurate (TAIC) crosslinking agents on thermal and mechanical properties of electron beam irradiated polylactide (PLA). The blends were made of PLA mixed with 3 wt% of TMPTA (PLA/TMPTA), and PLA mixed with 3 wt% of TAIC (PLA/TAIC). Injection moulded samples were irradiated with the use of high energy (10 MeV) electron beam at various radiation doses to crosslinking PLA macromolecules. Thermal and mechanical properties were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile strength, and impact strength measurements. The samples were also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was found that under the influence of electron irradiation PLA/TMPTA samples underwent degradation while PLA/TAIC samples became crosslinked. Tensile and impact strengths of PLA/TMPTA samples decreased with increasing radiation dose while an enhancement of these properties for PLA/TAIC samples was observed.     

Effect of EVM/EVA‐g‐MAH ratio on the structure and properties of nylon 1010 blends

The nylon 1010/ethylene‐vinyl acetate rubber (EVM)/maleated ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA‐g‐MAH) ternary blends were prepared. The effect of EVM/EVA‐g‐MAH ratio on the toughness of blends was examined. A super tough nylon 1010 blends were obtained by the incorporation of both EVM and EVA‐g‐MAH. Impact essential work of fracture (EWF) model was used to characterize the fracture behavior of the blends. The nylon/EVM/EVA‐g‐MAH (80/15/5) blend had the highest total fracture energy at a given ligament length (5 mm) and the highest dissipative energy density among all the studied blends. Scanning electron microscopy images showed the EVM and EVA‐g‐MAH existed as spherical particles in nylon 1010 matrix and their size decreased gradually with increasing EVA‐g‐MAH content. Large plastic deformation was observed on the impact fracture surface of the nylon/EVM/EVA‐g‐MAH (80/15/5) blend and related to its high impact strength. Then with increasing EVA‐g‐MAH proportion, the matrix shear yielding of nylon/EVM/EVA‐g‐MAH blends became less obvious. EVM and EVA‐g‐MAH greatly increased the apparent viscosity of nylon 1010, especially at low shear rates. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 877–887, 2009     

Chiral separation of trans-stilbene oxide through cellulose acetate butyrate membrane

An enantioselective membrane was prepared using cellulose acetate butyrate as a membrane material. The flux and permselective properties of membrane using 50% ethanol solution of (R,S)-trans-stilbene oxide as feed solution were studied. The top surface and cross-section morphology of the resulting membrane were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The resolution of over 92% enantiomeric excess was achieved when the enantioselective membrane was prepared with 15 wt % cellulose acetate butyrate and 30 wt % N,N-dimethylformamide in the casting solution of acetone, 10 °C temperature of water bath for the gelation of the membrane, and the operating pressure and the feed concentration of the trans-stilbene oxide were 3 kgf/cm² and 5.2 mmol/L, respectively. Since the cellulose acetate butyrate contained a large amount of asymmetric carbons on the backbone structure, it was possible to form helical structure, this was considered to be the reason for the enantioselectivity of the membrane.     

Solubilities of carbon dioxide in 2-methoxyethyl acetate, 1-methoxy-2-propyl acetate and 3-methoxybutyl acetate

The solubilities of CO₂ in 2-methoxyethyl acetate, 1-methoxy-2-propyl acetate, and 3-methoxybutyl acetate were measured by isothermal synthesis method under pressures up to 1.2 MPa and at temperatures ranging from (293.15 to 333.15) K. Henry’s constant was calculated based on experimental data regression. The solubilities of CO₂ were found to increase with decreased temperature and increased the methyl group to the molecular structure of the absorbent. Henry’s constant and volumetric solubility of selected absorbents at T = 298.15 K were compared with those of commercial absorbents and common solvents. 3-Methoxybutyl acetate showed the best performance by mole fraction, and 2-methoxyethyl acetate behaved the best by volumetric fraction. Based on Henry’s constant, thermodynamic properties such as Gibbs free energy of solution, enthalpy of solution, and absorption entropy of solution were determined. These properties are very essential for designing an absorption process.     

The application of the synergistic effect between the crystal structure of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and the presence of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) to produce highly ductile PLA/EVA blends

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this paper, we produced ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA)-filled poly(lactic acid) (PLA) blends by extrusion and injection moulding. We...     

Miscibility and thermal stability of ethyl vinyl acetate and ethylene-octane copolymer blends

Miscibility and thermal stability of ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) and ethylene octane (EO) copolymer blends with different compositions were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The degradation behavior by TGA data under dynamic conditions in an inert atmosphere shows the blends to be immiscible. The addition of EO improves the thermal stability of EVA for all composition and temperature ranges. Using the DSC experiment, two single crystallization temperatures (T _c) for the blends were obtained and the crystallization and melting enthalpy with compositions abiding by the additive rules, confirm the immiscibility of the blends. The rate of crystallization seems to be independent of blend compositions. The surface morphology using AFM shows a thin and elongated crystallites of pure EO, and a bulky and random morphology for EVA, where a perfect mixture of aforementioned structures for 50/50 blend, with the immiscible domains of both EO and EVA. The 2D-power spectral density (PSD) analysis shows the surface roughness of 50/50 blends is in between of EO and EVA. Both AFM observations and quantitative PSD results, along the line with DSC and TGA. The experimental data for miscibility and stability by TGA, DSC and AFM techniques reveal that blends of EVA/EO are immiscible in the entire range of compositions.     

Volumetric and viscometric behaviour of the binary systems of N-methyldiethanolamine and diethanolamine with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate at various temperatures

In the present work, density and viscosity of two binary mixtures of N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) and diethanolamine (DEA) with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([bmim][acetate]) are measured. The experiments were carried out at atmospheric pressure and at T = (293.15 to 343.15) K for density and from 293.15 K to 353.15 K for viscosity over the whole range of mole fraction. Using the density and viscosity results, several physical and thermodynamic properties such as excess molar volumes (V^E), coefficients of thermal expansions (α), viscosity deviation (Δη),molar activation entropy (ΔS), molar activation enthalpy (ΔH) and molar activation Gibbs free energy (ΔG) for these binary mixtures are calculated.The experimental results of the density and viscosity for the pure systems as well as the binary systems show a decrease with increasing temperature as expected. The results of density measurements show that over all ranges of temperatures investigated the density of the pure components show the following trend: DEA > [bmim][acetate] > MDEA. Therefore, in the binary mixtures of the (MDEA + [bmim][acetate]), the density of the mixture reduces with decreasing concentration of the ionic liquid and for the (DEA + [bmim][acetate]) mixture the density of the blend enhances to reduce the concentration of the ionic liquid. Moreover, the calculated excess molar volumes show a positive deviation from ideality for the two binary mixtures. The behaviour of change of viscosity against concentration for the (MDEA + [bmim][acetate]) system is different from the (DEA + [bmim][acetate]) mixture so that for the first system the value of the viscosity rises with increasing [bmim][acetate] mole fraction, but in the second system there is a minimum viscosity point in the DEA-rich region.     

Consideration of interface polarization in the modeling of dielectric property for ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/polyaniline conductive composites prepared through in-situ polymerization of aniline in EVA matrix

In this study conductive composite of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/polyaniline (Pani) were prepared by in-situ polymerization technique. Dielectric properties (Permittivity) of the composites have been investigated with respect to concentration of Pani and frequency of electric field. For predicting permittivity of the composites, different mixing rules proposed by Lichtenecker, Bruggeman, Jaysundere–Smith, Maxwell–Wagner, and Yamada have been verified at 10, 10³, and 10⁶ Hz frequencies. It has been found that the theoretical permittivities predicted by different models differ largely from experimental permittivity when measured at 10 and 10³ Hz frequencies. The limitations of the models as well as the cause of deviations between the theoretically predicted and experimentally observed results have been discussed. A new model for permittivity has been proposed by considering the generation of interface polarization between the EVA matrix and Pani particles. This model fits well with the experimentally observed results.     

Densities,surface tensions,and derived surface thermodynamics properties of (trimethylbenzene + propyl acetate,or butyl acetate) from T = 298.15 K to 313.15 K

Densities (ρ) for binary systems of (1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, or 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene + propyl acetate, or butyl acetate) were determined at four temperatures (298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15) K over the full mole fraction range. The excess molar volumes (V^E) calculated from the density data show that the deviations from ideal behaviour in the systems (all being positive, excepting 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene + butyl acetate system) become more positive with the temperature increasing. Surface tensions (σ) of these binary systems were measured at the same temperatures (298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15) K by the pendant drop method, the surface tension deviations (δσ) for all system are negative, and decrease with the temperature increasing. The V^E and δσ are fitted to the Redlich–Kister polynomial equation. Surface tensions were also used to estimate surface entropy (S_σ) and surface enthalpy (H_σ).     

Isobaric vapor–liquid equilibria for the binary systems isobutyl alcohol + isobutyl acetate and tert-butyl alcohol + tert-butyl acetate at 20 and 101.3 kPa

New consistent vapor–liquid equilibrium data for the binary systems isobutyl alcohol (IBA) + isobutyl acetate (IBAc) and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) + tert-butyl acetate (TBAc) are reported at 20 and 101.3 kPa. The IBA + IBAc system, which deviates positively from ideal behavior, can be described as symmetric solution and presents azeotrope at both pressures. The TBA + TBAc system shows positive deviations from ideal behavior and presents azeotrope only at 20 kPa. The activity coefficients and boiling points of the solutions were correlated with their composition by the Wilson, UNIQUAC, NRTL and Wisniak–Tamir equations.