Modification the Processing and Rheological behavior of Polylactic acid ViaChemical Grafting of long chain branched PLA in a Reactive Mixing

Due to the harmful impact of petroleum-based plastic waste on the environment, there is a growingshift towards biodegradable, natural-based polymers like poly(lactic acid) (PLA). This study aims toenhance the applicability of PLA by using a two-step chain extension reaction with Benzene-۱,۲,۴,۵-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PMDA) and Teroxirone (TGIC) to improve its rheological properties.PMDA targets the hydroxyl groups, increasing carboxyl groups through an anhydride ring-openingreaction, facilitating the reaction between PLA and TGIC. The reactions are confirmed by measuringthe acid value, and FTIR. Shear and elongational rheological properties are analyzed to studymolecular weight changes. The results indicate that the PLA chains extended using both chainextenders simultaneously exhibit a significant synergistic improvement in their rheologicalproperties, attributed to the longer segments between branching points on the structure.Despitebiodegradable plastics often being treated as contaminants in conventional recycling, our modifiedPLA (LCB-PLA) shows notable enhancements in melt-state properties and can maintain integrityduring processing for over ۵۰ minutes without degradation, suggesting its potential for integrationinto recycling processes as a viable recyclable biopolymer.

کلیدواژه ها:

Biopolymer ، Sustainability ، Poly(lactic acid) ، Long chain branching ، Recycling ، Properties ، Viscoelasticity ، Reactive modification