Starting from calcium sulfate (gypsum) as fermentation byproduct of lactic acid production process, highperformance composites have been produced by melt-blending polylactide (PLA) and anhydrite II (AII) filler, i.e., calcium sulfate hemihydrate previously dried at 500 °C. Characterized by attractive properties due to good filler dispersion throughout the polyester matrix and favorable interactions between components, these composites are interesting for potential use as biodegradable rigid packaging. The effect of filler content and mean particle diameter on the barrier properties such as sorption and diffusion to water vapor has been examined and compared to unfilled PLA. Even without additional treatments, the presence of the filler introduced constraints on molecular mobility in the permeable phase of amorphous PLA and the amount of solvent absorbed appears lower in the highly filled composites. Surprisingly, for PLA-30% AII compositions, by addition of filler characterized by high mean particle diameter (e.g., 43 μm) the thermodynamic diffusion parameter, Do, decreased up to 2 orders of magnitude. The dimension of filler particles and their percentage in the continuous polymeric phase seem to be the most important parameters that determine the barrier properties of the PLA-AII composites to water vapor.

Effect of Filler Content and Size on Transport Properties of Water Vapor in PLA/Calcium Sulfate Composites

GORRASI, Giuliana;VITTORIA, Vittoria;
2008-01-01

Abstract

Starting from calcium sulfate (gypsum) as fermentation byproduct of lactic acid production process, highperformance composites have been produced by melt-blending polylactide (PLA) and anhydrite II (AII) filler, i.e., calcium sulfate hemihydrate previously dried at 500 °C. Characterized by attractive properties due to good filler dispersion throughout the polyester matrix and favorable interactions between components, these composites are interesting for potential use as biodegradable rigid packaging. The effect of filler content and mean particle diameter on the barrier properties such as sorption and diffusion to water vapor has been examined and compared to unfilled PLA. Even without additional treatments, the presence of the filler introduced constraints on molecular mobility in the permeable phase of amorphous PLA and the amount of solvent absorbed appears lower in the highly filled composites. Surprisingly, for PLA-30% AII compositions, by addition of filler characterized by high mean particle diameter (e.g., 43 μm) the thermodynamic diffusion parameter, Do, decreased up to 2 orders of magnitude. The dimension of filler particles and their percentage in the continuous polymeric phase seem to be the most important parameters that determine the barrier properties of the PLA-AII composites to water vapor.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/1849070
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 60
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 51
social impact