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

Abstract

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.