Recent Developments in Polylactide-based Blends and Their Applications

9 Recent Developments in Polylactide-based Blends and Their Applications 

The most common strategy to decrease the price or improve the properties of polylactide to fulfill the requirements of different applications is blending. Polylactide has been blended with degradable and inert polymers, natural and synthetic polymers, plasticizers, natural fibers and inorganic fillers. The most common blends include blends with other polyesters such as polycaprolactone or PLA/starch blends. Usually the compatibility between the two components has to be improved by addition of compatibilizers such as polylactide grafted with starch or acrylic acid (114,115). Recently a lot of focus was concentrated on the development of polylactide biocomposites, nanocomposites and stereocomplex materials. In addition various approaches have been evaluated for toughening of polylactide. 

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