The Effects of Process Engineering on the Performance of PLA and PHBV Blends

The effects of process engineering in the fabrication of PHBV, PLA and their blends prepared by melt blending are studied. The elongation of an optimized blend can be improved by 148 and 250% over the virgin PHBV and PLA polymers, respectively. DSC shows that the two polymers are immiscible in blends of any composition. The crystallinity of PHBV is hindered by the presence of PLA. UV-Vis demonstrates the opacity of the blend with incorporation of PHBV to the PLA phase. The observed tensile modulus of the optimized sample is compared with theoretical values from the rule of mixtures. Gordon-Taylor's equation is applied on the glass transition temperatures for theoretical modeling to explain the miscibility of the polymers.