Polylactic acid incorporated polyfurfuryl alcohol bioplastics: thermal, mechanical and curing studies

Biodegradable polyfurfuryl alcohol (PFA)-based bioplastics, containing 0.5% to 3% (w/v) dissolvable polylactic acid (PLA) fabric, were successfully fabricated with p-toluene sulphonic acid as an acid catalyst by casting method in a silicon mould. By incorporating PLA, the 1st step thermal curing time of acid-catalysed furfuryl alcohol decreased from 96 h to 22 h. The fabricated bioplastics were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and tensile testing to evaluate their structure and properties. The results revealed that PFA-based bioplastics with 0.5% PLA showed higher tensile strength as well as higher elongation at break compared to neat PFA-based bioplastics. Also, the thermal stability of PFA bioplastic at 0.5% PLA increased compared to neat PFA. A green and solvent-free method for incorporating PLA in PFA resin to fabricate PLA incorporated PFA-based bioplastics has been delineated in this work.