Compatibility and impact properties of poly(lactic acid)/ Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) blend using poly(butyl acrylate)

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a biodegradable polymer, which has been increased in usage due to strengthening environmental policy and increased interest in sustainable plastics. However, it has inherent shortcomings such as brittleness, low melt strength, heat resistance, and impact resistance, which limited widespread applications for requiring mechanical properties. In this study, to improve the compatibility and impact resistance of the PLA, the poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) was introduced into the PLA/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) blends. In addition, the thermal, dynamic viscoelastic, morphological, mechanical and impact strength characteristics of the composite were analyzed. As a result, it was demonstrated that the impact strength was increased up to 2.2 times because PBA acted as a compatibilizer for PLA/PBAT blends and formed the co-continuous morphology. Therefore, we confirmed the applicability of sustainable plastics through improving the impact strength of PLA-based biodegradable materials.