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Poly(methyl methacrylate)-induced Microstructure and Hydrolysis Behavior Changes of Poly(L-lactic acid)/Carbon Nanotubes Composites

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Abstract

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA)-based composites exhibit wide applications in many fields. However, most of hydrophilic fillers usually accelerate the hydrolytic degradation of PLLA, which is unfavorable for the prolonging of the service life of the articles. In this work, a small quantity of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) (2 wt%–10 wt%) was incorporated into the PLLA/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) composites. The effects of PMMA content on the dispersion of CNTs as well as the microstructure and hydrolytic degradation behaviors of the composites were systematically investigated. The results showed that PMMA promoted the dispersion of CNTs in the composites. Amorphous PLLA was obtained in all the composites. Largely enhanced hydrolytic degradation resistance was achieved by incorporating PMMA, especially at relatively high PMMA content. Incorporating 10 wt% PMMA led to a dramatic decrease in the hydrolytic degradation rate from 0.19 %/h of the PLLA/CNT composite sample to 0.059 %/h of the PLLA/PMMA-10/CNT composite sample. The microstructure evolution of the composites was also detected, and the results showed that no crystallization occurred in the PLLA matrix. Further results based on the interfacial tension calculation showed that the enhanced hydrolytic degradation resistance of the PLLA matrix was mainly attributed to the relatively strong interfacial affinity between PMMA and CNTs, which prevented the occurrence of hydrolytic degradation at the interface between PLLA and CNTs. This work provides an alternative method for tailoring the hydrolytic degradation ability of the PLLA-based composites.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51473137), the International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of Sichuan Province (No. 2017HH0066), the International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of Chengdu (No. 2016-GH02-00097-HZ), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2682019JQ04).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science & Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China

    Xu Yu, Xin-Zheng Jin, Ting Huang, Nan Zhang & Yong Wang

  2. College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Xiao-Yu Li

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  1. Xu Yu
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  2. Xin-Zheng Jin
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  3. Ting Huang
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Correspondence to Xiao-Yu Li or Yong Wang.

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Yu, X., Jin, XZ., Huang, T. et al. Poly(methyl methacrylate)-induced Microstructure and Hydrolysis Behavior Changes of Poly(L-lactic acid)/Carbon Nanotubes Composites. Chin J Polym Sci 38, 195–204 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-019-2323-z

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