Characterization of poly(butylene succinate)/poly(lactic acid) blends with in-situ sub-micron fibers and intercalation structure manufacturing by volumetric pulsating elongation flow

In-situ fibrillation and intercalation structure are favoring to improve the properties of polymer blends. In this work poly(butylene succinate)/poly(lactic acid) blends containing such structures have been achieved via volume pulsating elongation flow instead of strong shear. The mechanical properties, crystallization properties and micromorphology of the extruders were well investigated. The results showed that PBS and PLA were partially miscible and the compatibility improved mandatorily by the elongation flow. Evenly distributed and oriented insitu sub-micron fibers (PLA content < 40%) and co-continuous phase with intercalated structure (with 40% and 60% PLA) formed resulting in the excellent comprehensive properties. The average diameter or thickness of PLA fiber or layer range from 188 nm to 425 nm. Young's modulus of the blends conformed to the parallel model. Compare with neat PBS, the increment in storage modulus at room temperature, Young's modulus and crystallinity of PBS60 were 242.4%, 411.4%, and 21.5%, respectively, while the impact strength decreased slightly from 43.6 kJ/m(2) to 33.1 kJ/m(2). This research shows a potentially effective method for manufacturing polymer blends with such special structure with industrial feasibility.