Preparation, characterization and properties of PLA/TiO2 nanocomposites based on a novel vane extruder

Abstract

Polylactide/TiO₂ nanocomposites with different contents of nanoscale TiO₂ were prepared by melt blending with a vane extruder in this work. SEM and TEM microphotographs indicate that the nanoparticles were well dispersed in the polymer matrix under the elongational flow field of the vane extruder. Crystallization and melting behavior were examined with DSC. The results show that TiO₂ nanoparticles have an inhibition for the cold crystallization process of PLA to some extent and the cold crystallization temperature of nanocomposites shifted to a maximum value at about 106 °C with low TiO₂ loadings (0.5 wt% or 1 wt%). Dynamic rheological measurements and TGA results show that the introduction of TiO₂ has significantly improved the thermal stability. The toughness, surface wettability and UV resistance of the composites were also investigated in detail.