Mechanical properties, crystallization characteristics, and foaming behavior of polytetrafluoroethylene-reinforced poly(lactic acid) composites

In this study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composites containing different amounts of PTFE were prepared by melt blending. The mechanical, crystallization, and foaming properties of the prepared composites were investigated. Tensile test results indicated that the mechanical properties of the composite with PTFE showed significant reinforcement and toughening effects. The average elongation-at-break of the composite increased by 72% compared with pure PLA. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the PTFE elongated into fibrils during blending and formed a physical network of entanglements in the melt. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) also showed that PTFE had a significant nucleation effect on polymer crystals and greatly increased the crystallinity of the PLA matrix. Moreover, PTFE dramatically enhanced the melt viscosity of PLA, which was investigated by rheological tests. The injection molding foaming experiments revealed that adding 1 wt% PTFE had the most notable heterogeneous nucleation effect on foamed cells, with the cell size decreasing from 81.5 μm for neat PLA to 25.2 μm, and the cell density increasing from 1.34 × 108 cells/cm3 to 2.53 × 109 cells/cm3. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:570–580, 2017. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers