Journal
JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS RESEARCH PART A
Volume 88A, Issue 4, Pages 1079-1086Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.32009
Keywords
PLA; PHBHHx; physical aging; surface modification; toughness
Funding
- National Science Foundation [FEC-9731680]
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The present research investigates the effect of photoinduced grafting reaction on the bulk properties of melt processed poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA)-poly[(3-hydroxybutyrate)-co-(3-hydroxyhexanoate)] (PHBHHx) blend films. PLA-PHBHHx blend films, comprising 10 wt % PHBHHx showed a remarkable toughness improvement. From dynamic mechanical analysis of melt processed PLA-PHBHHx blend films, the blend appears to be noncompatible. Unfortunately, PLA-PHBHHx blend films underwent rapid physical aging as characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, resulting in a significant toughness loss. Physically aged films regained the original toughness on annealing at 60 C for 30 min. Annealed PLA-PHBHHx blend films also underwent physical aging leading to a significant toughness loss. Hydrophilic monomers like acrylic acid and acrylamide were successfully photopolymerized from the film surface using a sequential, two-step photo-grafting approach. The resultant films were characterized using water contact angle goniometry, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, and mechanical testing. PLA-PHBHHx blend films lost their toughness significantly on surface modification and this was assigned to UV-assisted solvent induced crystallization as characterized using wide-angle X-ray diffraction analyses. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 88A: 1079-1086, 2009
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