PLA/PHBV Films with Improved Mechanical and Gas Barrier Properties

Majdi Boufarguine (1, 2) , Alain Guinault (2) , Guillaume Miquelard-Garnier (2) , Cyrille Sollogoub (2)

1 IMMM - Institut des Molécules et Matériaux du Mans
2 PIMM - Laboratoire Procédés et Ingénierie en Mécanique et Matériaux

Blending poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with a small amount of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV; 10 wt%) using a custom multilayer co-extrusion process increases both ductility and gas barrier properties of extruded films compared with neat PLA and classical blending methods. The co-extrusion process allows multiplication of the number of alternate layers of PLA and PHBV within a film. It was observed that for a critical number of theoretical layers, PHBV layers are broken into lamellas. A well-developed lamellar morphology, with thin and long lamellas of highly crystalline PHBV in PLA matrix was obtained. A balance between aspect ratio and crystallinity of the lamellas, and their dispersion within the PLA matrix was needed to obtain films with improved permeability and mechanical properties.

Mots clés: barriers; biopolymers; extrusion; mechanical properties; microstructures

Domaines: Matériaux; Mécanique [physics.med-ph]

Majdi Boufarguine, Alain Guinault, Guillaume Miquelard-Garnier, Cyrille Sollogoub. PLA/PHBV Films with Improved Mechanical and Gas Barrier Properties. Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, 2013, 298 (10), pp.1065-1073. ⟨10.1002/mame.201200285⟩. ⟨hal-00980637⟩