Polylactide/poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) blends: Morphology and mechanical properties

Thibaut Gérard (1) , Tatiana Budtova (1) , Aleksander Podshivalov (2) , Sergei Bronnikov (3)

1 CEMEF - Centre de Mise en Forme des Matériaux
2 ITMO - National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics [St. Petersburg]
3 Institute of Macromolecular Compounds

The morphology and the mechanical properties of polylactide/poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) blends of various compositions were studied. The statistical analysis of the scanning electron microscopy images allowed finding two statistical ensembles of the minor-phase particles. The first ensemble involves the dispersed particles, whereas the second one contains the coalesced particles. The mean diameters of both dispersed and coalesced minor-phase particles were calculated and plotted against the blend composition. Young's modulus, tensile strength, elongation at break, and Charpy impact strength of the blends were determined and examined as a function of the blend composition. The Young's modulus values were shown to be in accordance with theoretical predictions.

Mots clés: mechanical properties; morphology; polylactide; polyhydroxyalkanoate; polymer blends and alloys

Domaines: Matériaux

Thibaut Gérard, Tatiana Budtova, Aleksander Podshivalov, Sergei Bronnikov. Polylactide/poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) blends: Morphology and mechanical properties. Express Polymer Letters, 2014, 8 (8), pp.609-617. ⟨10.3144/expresspolymlett.2014.64⟩. ⟨hal-01023236⟩