Ternary blends from biological poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxyvalerate), poly(L-lactic acid), and poly(vinyl acetate) with balanced properties

Yi Li; Shuangna Yao; Changyu Han; Yancun Yu; Liguang Xiao

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.03.127

Ternary blends from biological poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxyvalerate), poly(L-lactic acid), and poly(vinyl acetate) with balanced properties

Int J Biol Macromol. 2021 Jun 30:181:60-71. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.03.127. Epub 2021 Mar 23.

Authors

Yi Li¹, Shuangna Yao², Changyu Han³, Yancun Yu⁴, Liguang Xiao⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China; Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China. Electronic address: cyhan@ciac.ac.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China. Electronic address: xiaoliguang@jlju.edu.cn.

PMID: 33771544
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.03.127

Abstract

Herein, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxyvalerate) (P34HB), poly (L-lactic acid) (PLA), and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) were initially melt compounded to prepare a ternary blend with balanced properties. Further, the miscibility, phase morphology, thermal and crystallization behaviors, and rheological and mechanical properties of the blends were studied. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results indicated that P34HB and PLA were partially miscible; however, PVAc showed full miscibility with PLA and P34HB. PVAc would selectively disperse in the PLA phase when considering low content, whereas it would gradually diffuse into the P34HB phase with the increasing PVAc concentration. A phase-separated morphology was observed for all the blends using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the diameters of the dispersed phases increased with the increasing PVAc concentration. The crystallization of P34HB was enhanced by the presence of PLA alone and was restrained by the simultaneous incorporation of PVAc and PLA. The rheological properties of P34HB were significantly improved because of the PVAc phase. Unexpectedly, the toughness and stiffness of the P34HB in ternary blends clearly improved because of the incorporation of PLA and PVAc.

Keywords: Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxyvalerate) (P34HB); Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA); Poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc).

MeSH terms

Calorimetry, Differential Scanning
Crystallization
Elasticity
Hydroxybutyrates / chemistry*
Kinetics
Polyesters / chemistry*
Polyvinyls / chemistry*
Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Rheology
Stress, Mechanical
Tensile Strength
Transition Temperature
Viscosity

Substances

Hydroxybutyrates
Polyesters
Polyvinyls
poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate)
polyvinyl acetate
poly(lactide)