Botlhoko, Orebotse JRamontja, JRay, Suprakas S2018-11-302018-11-302018-08Botlhoko, O.J., Ramontja, J. and Ray, S.S. 2018. A new insight into morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of melt-processed polylactide/poly(e-caprolactone) blends. Polymer Degradation and Stability, vol. 154: 84-950141-39101873-2321https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141391018301782https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2018.05.025http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10569Copyright: 2018 Elsevier. Due to copyright restrictions, the attached PDF file only contains the abstract of the full text item. For access to the full text item, please consult the publisher's website. The definitive version of the work is published in Polymer Degradation and Stability, vol. 154: 84-95Biodegradable polylactide (PLA)/poly (e-caprolactone) (PCL) blend is a well-studied immiscible polymer blend system; however, there is no fundamental understanding of how the dispersed phase morphology controls the thermal stability, and the thermal and mechanical properties of the blend systems. Addressing this research question, a series of PLA/PCL blends were processed using melt-blending technique. The results show that the unique thermal stability of the dispersed PCL domains prolonged the complete degradation process of PLA. Furthermore, altering the activation energies (Ea) of PLA/PCL blends revealed that thermal stability depends not only on the governing mechanism change during degradation process but also on the behavior of phase-separated morphology characteristics. The presence of evenly dispersed PCL particles within PLA matrix enhanced the crystallization rate coefficient of PLA and tailored the spherulite morphologies by acting as a nucleating agent, thus promoting the crystallization ability of PLA chains. Consequently, remarkable increase in elongation at break was achieved for 60PLA/40PCL blend, with well-balance tensile modulus and tensile strength characteristics. Despite the significant storage modulus increase of the blends at low temperatures, significant storage modulus decrease is noted with increasing temperature, due to packing density, chain mobility phenomenon, and unfrozen PCL molecules. The enhanced processability of PLA by ductile PCL, with improved and balanced properties, enables the technological advancement of bio-based PLA for a wide range of applications.enPolylactide/poly(e-caprolactone) immiscible blendsThermal degradation kineticsCrystallization behaviorArticleBotlhoko, O. J., Ramontja, J., & Ray, S. S. (2018). A new insight into morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of melt-processed polylactide/poly(e-caprolactone) blends. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10569Botlhoko, Orebotse J, J Ramontja, and Suprakas S Ray "A new insight into morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of melt-processed polylactide/poly(e-caprolactone) blends." (2018) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10569Botlhoko OJ, Ramontja J, Ray SS. A new insight into morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of melt-processed polylactide/poly(e-caprolactone) blends. 2018; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10569.TY - Article AU - Botlhoko, Orebotse J AU - Ramontja, J AU - Ray, Suprakas S AB - Biodegradable polylactide (PLA)/poly (e-caprolactone) (PCL) blend is a well-studied immiscible polymer blend system; however, there is no fundamental understanding of how the dispersed phase morphology controls the thermal stability, and the thermal and mechanical properties of the blend systems. Addressing this research question, a series of PLA/PCL blends were processed using melt-blending technique. The results show that the unique thermal stability of the dispersed PCL domains prolonged the complete degradation process of PLA. Furthermore, altering the activation energies (Ea) of PLA/PCL blends revealed that thermal stability depends not only on the governing mechanism change during degradation process but also on the behavior of phase-separated morphology characteristics. The presence of evenly dispersed PCL particles within PLA matrix enhanced the crystallization rate coefficient of PLA and tailored the spherulite morphologies by acting as a nucleating agent, thus promoting the crystallization ability of PLA chains. Consequently, remarkable increase in elongation at break was achieved for 60PLA/40PCL blend, with well-balance tensile modulus and tensile strength characteristics. Despite the significant storage modulus increase of the blends at low temperatures, significant storage modulus decrease is noted with increasing temperature, due to packing density, chain mobility phenomenon, and unfrozen PCL molecules. The enhanced processability of PLA by ductile PCL, with improved and balanced properties, enables the technological advancement of bio-based PLA for a wide range of applications. DA - 2018-08 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Polylactide/poly(e-caprolactone) immiscible blends KW - Thermal degradation kinetics KW - Crystallization behavior LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2018 SM - 0141-3910 SM - 1873-2321 T1 - A new insight into morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of melt-processed polylactide/poly(e-caprolactone) blends TI - A new insight into morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties of melt-processed polylactide/poly(e-caprolactone) blends UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10569 ER -