Poly (vinyl alcohol)/polylactic acid blend film with enhanced processability, compatibility, and mechanical property fabricated via melt processing

Abstract Poly (vinyl alcohol)/polylactic acid (PVA/PLA) blend film, which is environment friendly and has potential applications in food and electronic packaging fields, was fabricated by melt extrusion casting. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis confirmed the formation of the hydrogen bonding between PLA and PVA, which improved the compatibility of PLA with PVA, making PLA uniformly dispersed in PVA matrix as small spheres, even when PLA content increase to 15 wt%. In this way, the original hydrogen bond network among PVA was disturbed and the chain mobility of PVA was activated, endowing PVA/PLA blends with lower melt viscosity than bot modified PVA and PLA, and the blend films with the increased crystallinity, mechanical property, and water resistance. Compared with PVA film, the crystallinity, tensile strength and Young's modulus of the blend film with 15 wt% PLA, respectively, increased by 15.1%, 9 and 51 MPa, and the water contact angle enlarged from 23° to 60°.