Rheological and mechanical properties, heat resistance and hydrolytic degradation of poly(butylene succinate‐co‐adipate)/stereocomplex polylactide blends

Abstract In this study, equimolar amounts of poly( l ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly( d ‐lactide acid) (PDLA) were melt‐blended with PBSA, to obtain a novel and environmentally friendly PBSA/sc‐PLA blend, through in situ formation of stereo‐complex poly(lactic acid) (sc‐PLA). Differential scanning calorimetry and wide‐angle X‐ray diffractometry confirmed the formation of sc‐PLA in PBSA matrix. The sc‐PLA was uniformly dispersed in PBSA matrix. Up to 20 wt% sc‐PLA concentration, the PBSA/sc‐PLA blends showed solid‐like flow behavior in the low‐frequency region. Moreover, sc‐PLA could reinforce the PBSA matrix. The Young's modulus, yield strength, and storage modulus of PBSA/sc‐PLA blend increased with increase in sc‐PLA content. In addition, the heat deflection temperatures of PBSA/sc‐PLA blends increased on incorporation of sc‐PLA, thus enhancing the heat resistance. Compared with neat PBSA, the hydrolytic degradation of PBSA/sc‐PLA blends was improved. This work provides an effective strategy to obtain high performance PBSA materials and expand the application scope of PBSA.