Improving the Toughness and Thermal Resistance of Polyoxymethylene/Poly(lactic acid) Blends: Evaluation of Structure-Properties Correlation for Reactive Processing

The study focuses on the development of polyoxymethylene (POM)/poly(lactic acid) (PLA) blends with increased impact and thermal resistance. The study was conducted in two phases; in the first part, a series of unmodified blends with PLA content of 25, 50, and 75 wt.% was prepared, while the second part focused on the modification of the PLA/POM (50/50) blends. An ethylene/butyl acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer (E/BA/GMA) elastomer (EBA) was used to improve the impact strength of the prepared blends, while reactive blending was used to improve interfacial interactions. We used a multifunctional epoxy chain extender (CE) as the compatibilizer. Static tensile tests and notched Izod measurement were used to evaluate the mechanical performance of the prepared samples. The thermomechanical properties were investigated using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) analysis and heat deflection temperature (HDT)/Vicat softening temperature (VST) methods. The crystallinity was measured using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXS) measurements, while the rheology was evaluated using a rotational rheometer. The paper also includes a structure analysis performed using the SEM method. The structural tests show partial miscibility of the POM/PLA systems, resulting in the perfect compatibility of both phases. The impact properties of the final blends modified by the EBA/CE system were found to be similar to pure POM resin, while the E modulus was visibly improved. Favorable changes were also noticeable in the case of the thermomechanical properties. The results of most of the conducted measurements and microscopic observations confirm the high efficiency of the reaction for PLA as well as for the modified POM/PLA mixtures.