Crystallization and Rheological Properties of the Eco-friendly Composites Based on Poly (lactic acid) and Precipitated Barium Sulfate

The environmental-friendly poly (lactic acid) (PLA) composites were fabricated by incorporating precipitated barium sulfate (BaSO4), and then the crystallization behaviors and rheological properties were investigated in detail. Results show that the added inorganic filler enhances the crystallization capacity, promoting the crystallization happened in advance and achieving increased crystallinity for the composites. Such promotion effect is further demonstrated by the calculated kinetic parameters including half-time of crystallization, F(T), activation energy and nucleation activity. Rheology tests reveal that pure PLA exhibits a typical linear viscoelastic feature while the shear-thinning behavior of the composites becomes manifest increasingly. However, the complex viscosity, storage modulus and loss modulus for the composites are all increased along with added inorganic filler.