Effect of ultrasound on the properties of biodegradable polymer blends of poly(lactic acid) with poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)

This study investigated the effect of ultrasound irradiation on the blend of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT). The blends of PLA/PBAT(50/50) (PBAT50) were prepared in a melt mixer with an ultrasonic device attached. Thermal, theological, and mechanical properties, morphology, and biodegradability of the sonicated blends were analysed. The viscosity of the sonicated blends was increased by the ultrasound irradiation owing to the strong interaction. The morphology of the sonicated blends was significantly dependent on the duration of the ultrasound irradiation. For PBAT50, the phase size reduction was maximized when the blends were ultrasonically irradiated for 30 sec. At longer duration of ultrasound irradiation, the PBAT phase underwent flocculation. Measurement of the tensile properties showed an increased breakage tensile stress and an enhanced Young's modulus when the blends were properly irradiated. This improvement was ascribed to better adhesion between the PLA matrix and the PBAT domain and to better dispersion of the PBAT phase. However, the tensile properties were maximized after excessive energy irradiation, which was ascribed to an emulsifying effect leading to coalescence of the PBAT phase. Impact strength was increased to reach a peak with the ultrasound irradiation, and was higher than the untreated sample for all sonicated samples due to the difference of failure mechanism between the tensile test and the impact test.