Polylactic Acid and Polybutylene Succinate Biopolymer Blends for Extrusion Processing: Dry Blending vs. Masterbatch Dilution
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Environmental concerns about plastic waste have increased interest in biobased and biodegradable polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA) and polybutylene succinate (PBS). Blending PLA and PBS can provide a balanced performance, offsetting the PLA's brittleness. PLA/PBS can be processed either via single-screw extrusion (SSE) or twin-screw extrusion compounding followed by SSE (TSSE). This study aims at a comprehensive investigation of these two processing routes and assesses their impact on the physical, morphological, and mechanical properties of PLA/PBS blends. The results indicate that while both routes produce blends with comparable overall performance, subtle differences exist in the degradation behavior of PLA and the morphology of the blends. The PLA molecular weight drop was more pronounced in TSSE (~18.7%) compared to SSE (~1.5%). In both processing routes, PBS exhibited sub-micrometer domains below 15 wt.% loading, beyond which a distinct sea-island morphology with larger PBA domains was observed. TSSE exhibited slightly finer PBS domains. However, these differences did not lead to significant mechanical performance or miscibility differences. For instance, with 15 wt.% PBS loading, the elongation at break was improved from 4.6% to 193% in SSE15 and 192% in TSSE15, with a 29% and 30% decrease in yield strength, respectively. This work suggests that the single-step SSE process can be used as a cost-effective and energy-saving approach in PLA/PBS blending without the need for pre-compounding.
Source: Polymers
Institution: University of Massachusetts Lowell
Language: English
Subfield: Biomaterials
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,258
Awards: G7419953539, TITLE: ENABLING MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION, SUPPLY CHAIN DIVERSIFICATION AND ADDRESSING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF PPEPURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP BIO-DEGRADABLE PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) PRODUCTS, BY DEVELOPMENT AND SCALE UP OF ELECTROSPUN FILTRATION MATERIALS, ALONG WITH EASILY DEPLOYED ROBOTIC PPE PRODUCTION LINES. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE PROJECT TEAM WILL DESIGN, DEVELOP, AND PRODUCE NEW BIOPOLYMER-BASED NONWOVENS MATERIAL; DEVELOP ELECTROSPUN FILTRATION MATERIALS; AND DEVELOP TWO SELF-CONTAINED, FULLY AUTOMATED AND RAPIDLY DEPLOYABLE MANUFACTURING CELLS FOR PPE (E.G., SURGICAL MASKS, REUSABLE COMMUNITY MASKS, CAPS, BOOTIES).EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THIS PROJECT WILL LEAD TO THE PRODUCTION OF BIODEGRADABLE PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) PRODUCTS AND ALTERNATIVE FILTRATION MATERIALS AND GREATER CAPABILITIES TO SURGE-PRODUCE PPE AT LOCAL POINTS OF NEED.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE GENERAL PUBLIC, SMALL AND MEDIUM MANUFACTURERS, AS WELL AS STATE GOVERNMENTS WILL BENEFIT FROM BIODEGRADABLE PPE AND ALTERNATIVE FILTRATION MATERIALS THAT REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT; MANUFACTURING OPPORTUNITIES TO PRODUCE QUALITY, COMPETITIVE, PRODUCTS AND ENSURE A RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAIN FOR PPE; AND TOOLS THAT ENABLE MANUFACTURERS TO RAPIDLY CHANGE THEIR AUTOMATION LINES TO SUPPLY PPE PRODUCTS DURING A PANDEMIC. ADDITIONALLY, MANUFACTURERS, AND HEALTH CARE WORKERS INDIRECTLY, WILL BENEFIT FROM THE GREATER OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES AND READY ACCESS TO PPE. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT PLANS TO SUBAWARD FUNDS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH INTO THRUSTS: 1) BIODEGRADABLE PPE MATERIALS; 2) ELECTONSPUN PPE MATERIALS; AND 3) PPE LINE AUTOMATION ASPECTS OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT.
OpenAlex ID: W4416594614