High-performance and durable fibrous poly(glycolic acid)/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) blends by reactive compatibilization and solid-state drawing

The application of poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) is limited by its inherent brittleness and easy to hydrolysis. Herein, we demonstrate an effective strategy to make fibrous PGA/poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) blends with high strength, toughness and better hydrolysis resistance by reactive compatibilization and subse-quent solid-state drawing. The enhanced chain entanglement due to the compatibilization restricts the chain relaxation during drawing process, leading to a predominance of stress-induced orientation. Meanwhile, it also facilitates the immobilization and transformation of extended chains into rigid amorphous fraction (RAF). As a consequence, the combination of strong interfacial bonding, high orientation and abundant RAF results in su-perior comprehensive properties of the fibrous PGA/PBAT blends, e.g., the drawn compatibilized PGA/PBAT exhibit a tensile strength as high as 700 MPa and a tensile toughness of 385 MJ/m(3). Moreover, the tensile strength retention of the drawn compatibilized PGA/PBAT is 20 % higher than uncompatibilized sample after hydrolysis for 5 days. Therefore, this work provides a feasible strategy to make robust and durable fibrous PGA -based blends, which may broaden the application range of PGA.