Improvement of thermal properties of poly (L-lactic acid) by blending with zinc lactate

Zinc lactate (RSX) was synthesised from zinc acetate and L-lactic acid, and the structure was characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Thermal decomposition showed that the decomposition temperature of RSX is higher than the processing temperature of composites based on poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA). Single factor experiments certified that the optimum reaction conditions are a reaction temperature of 80 oC, and a reaction time of 4 hours. Addition of RSX could significantly decrease the half-time of overall PLLA crystallisation. Compared to pure PLLA, the half-time of PLLA with 7 % RSX decreased from 2359.91 seconds to 152.68 seconds at 115 oC. The kinetics of isothermal crystallisation of PLLA/RSX composites can be described using the Avrami equation.

J.Natn.Sci.Foundation Sri Lanka 2015 43 (3):247-252