Non-planar ring contained polyester modifying polylactide to pursue high toughness

Abstract Non-planar ring contained polyester is synthesized as an effective toughening agent to modify polylactide (PLA). By systematically researching the relation between molecular structure and properties, the two key factors to pursue high toughness of PLA with non-planar ring contained polyester are carefully distinguished. For one thing, the polyester must own the ability to be well compatible with PLA. For the other, the polyester should have a rigid molecular chain but “non-rigid” aggregation structure. By suitably controlling the molecular design, poly(butylene adipate- co -1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate) (PBAC) is obtained. After using PBAC to toughen PLA, the elongation extremely increases to 196.1 ± 3.6% and the notched impact strength is also effectively improved with several times. Finally, our research establishes an important methodology to toughen PLA and thus fabricates tough PLA based blends.