Degradation of polylactide composites under UV irradiation at 254 nm

The aim of the work was to determine the effect the amount of unmodified montmorillonite and the presence of a compatibilizing agent have got on the degradation of polylactide-based composites exposed to UV-C radiation at 254 nm wavelength. Polylactide nanocomposites consisting of polylactide, acting as polymer matrix, montmorillonite K10 (S) serving as nanofiller and poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (K) as the compatibilizing agent were exposed to UV radiation for the duration of 2-16 h. The influence of PCL and montmorillonite on the photodegradation process was determined by means of the FTIR technique, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (H-1 NMR). GPC and H-1 NMR techniques allowed to determine molar mass of degraded materials, FTIR served to discover the type and quantity of products obtained as a result of degradation. It has been established that introduction of nanofillers and a compatibilizing agent into polylactide matrix influences the rate of photo-oxidative degradation of composite films. The photodegradation process at 254 nm wavelength occurred less rapidly with an increase in nanofiller content. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.