Crystallization Behavior of Poly(lactic acid)/Titanium Dioxide Nanocomposites

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Published: Nov 3, 2015
Keywords:
Poly(lactic acid) Titanium dioxide Nanocomposites Crystallization

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Jiraporn Nomai
Chair of Composite Engineering, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Buncha Suksut
Chair of Composite Engineering, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Alois Karl Schlarb
Chair of Composite Engineering, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany Research Center OPTIMAS, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrucken, Germany

Abstract

In this study, a poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with various titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles loading were prepared by a manual laboratory mixing method. The effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on the non-isothermal and the isothermal crystallization behavior of PLA were investigated by polarized optical microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The presence of TiO2 nanoparticles decreased the spherulite growth rate of PLA, whereas it initiated faster crystallization through the heterogeneous nucleation process as observed by optical microscopy. The results of DSC analyses confirmed that the TiO2 nanoparticles act as an efficient nucleating agent for PLA crystallization. The cold crystallization temperature and crystallization half-time of PLA decreased, while degree of crystallinity of PLA increased in relation to increases of TiO2 nanoparticles.

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How to Cite
Nomai, J., Suksut, B., & Schlarb, A. K. (2015). Crystallization Behavior of Poly(lactic acid)/Titanium Dioxide Nanocomposites. Applied Science and Engineering Progress, 8(4), 251–258. Retrieved from https://ph02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ijast/article/view/67488
Issue
Vol. 8 No. 4 (2015)
Section
Research Articles