Toughening of polylactide with higher loading of nano-titania particles coated by poly(ε-caprolactone)

A novel approach for toughening polylactide (PLA) by nano-titania coated with poly(E-caprolactone) (PCL) is presented. The composites were mixed by a torque rheometer and the samples were prepared by compression molding successfully. A series of composites was studied with various amounts of titania particles from 0 up to 32.4 wt.%. Tensile test results demonstrated that the strain-at-break of the PLA nanocomposites can be increased greatly with the addition of the titania coated with PCL(C-TiO2). For example, when the C-TiO2 particles were added 26.5 wt.%, the elongation at break was increased to 65%, which surpasses the value ever reported in the future literatures at the similar level of nano-inorganic fillers. SEM showed that coated TiO2. even in high loading level, could be dispersed well in PLA matrix, which is unavailable for the uncoated TiO2. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.