Abstract The heat capacity of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is reported from T=(5 to 600) K as obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (d.s.c.) and adiabatic calorimetry. The heat capacity of solid PLA is linked to its group vibrational spectrum and the skeletal vibrations, the latter being described by a Tarasov equation with Θ1=574 K, Θ2=Θ3=52 K, and nine skeletal vibrations. The calculated and experimental heat capacities agree to ±3% between T=(5 and 300) K. The experimental heat capacity of liquid PLA can be expressed by Cp(liquid)=(120.17+0.076T) J · K−1 · mol−1 and has been compared to the ATHAS Data Bank, using contributions of other polymers with the same constituent groups. The glass transition temperature of amorphous PLA occurs at T=332.5 K with a change in heat capacity of 43.8 J · K−1 · mol−1. Depending on thermal history, semi-crystalline PLA has a melting endotherm between T=(418 and 432) K with variable heats of fusion. For 100% crystalline PLA, the heat of fusion is estimated to be (6.55 ± 0.02) kJ · mol−1 at T=480 K. With these results, the enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs function of crystalline and amorphous PLA were obtained. For semi-crystalline samples, one can check changes of crystallinity with temperature and judge the presence of rigid-amorphous fractions.

Heat Capacity of Poly(L-lactic acid)

Bioderived flame retardants represent one class of the most promising sustainable additives for creating flame retardant polylactic acid (PLA) because of their marginal impact on the biodegradability of PLA. Ammonium polyphosphate (APP) has demonstrated high flame-retardant effectiveness in PLA but its flame-retardant efficiency remains unsatisfactory even if after modifications. Herein, we report the facile fabrication of core–shell bioderived flame retardants by using APP as the core, and the chitosan (CS)/alginate (AA) bilayer as the shell through self-assembly in aqueous solution. The resultant core–shell flame retardant, APP@CS@AA-nBL (where “BL” is a CS&AA bilayer and “n” denotes 1–3 BL), can endow PLA with improved flame retardancy without negatively affecting the thermal properties. The PLA containing 10 wt % APP@CS@AA-3BL shows the highest LOI value (30.6%) and achieves a UL94 V-0 rating in the vertical burning test. Meanwhile, the cone calorimetry results demonstrate that the peak of the heat release rate and total heat release are respectively decreased by 23% and 11% relative to the PLA bulk. Such enhanced flame retardancy is mainly due to the excellent char-forming capability of APP@CS@AA. Moreover, the inclusion of 10 wt % APP@CS@AA-3BL gives rise to ∼23% increase in the impact strength of PLA possibly because of their interfacial hydrogen-bonding interactions. This work provides a facile and green strategy for preparing highly effective bioderived flame retardants for PLA and thus is expected to expand the practical applications in industry.

Core–Shell Bioderived Flame Retardants Based on Chitosan/Alginate Coated Ammonia Polyphosphate for Enhancing Flame Retardancy of Polylactic Acid

Semi-crystalline feedstock for filament-based 3D printing of polymers

The research presented in this article discusses the subject of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) modification via reactive mixing with the poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) copolymer for 3D pri...

Development of Toughened Blends of Poly(lactic acid) and Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) for 3D Printing Applications: Compatibilization Methods and Material Performance Evaluation

The paper comprehensively reviews durable polylactic acid (PLA)-based engineered blends and biocomposites supporting a low carbon economy. The traditional fossil fuel derived nonrenewable durable p...

Wangwang Yu

Papers

Melt crystallization of PLA/Talc in fused filament fabrication