Ductile Poly( lactic acid )‐Based Blends Containing Poly( butylene succinate‐co‐cyclohexanedimethylene succinate ) Derived From 1,4‐Cyclohexanedimethanol ( CHDM ): Structures and Properties

ABSTRACT Poly(lactic acid) (PLA), a type of bio‐based polyester, exhibits numerous outstanding characteristics. However, it suffers from a low breaking elongation. In this research, poly(butylene succinate‐co‐cyclohexanedimethylene succinate) (PBCS) was synthesized. This polymer contains cyclohexane rings and has a limited crystallization capacity. PBCS was integrated into PLA to produce PLA/PBCS blends with heightened ductility. The incorporation of PBCS has the potential to boost the cold crystallization ability of PLA. Although the thermal decomposition temperatures of the blends experience a slight decline, they remain significantly higher than the processing temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicates that PLA has a certain degree of compatibility with PBCS. When the PBCS content reaches 30 wt%, the blend demonstrates high tensile strength (47 MPa) and a breaking elongation of 260%. Moreover, PBCS serves to lower the complex viscosity of PLA. At the same time, the complex viscosity of the blend shows greater stability with variations in temperature. Compared with poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), PBCS has better compatibility with PLA, and PLA/PBCS blends have higher elongation at break due to the poor crystallization ability and the conformational transition of the cyclohexane rings of PBCS.