Thermal and mechanical analysis of injection moulded poly(lactic acid) filled with poly(ethylene glycol) and talc

In our research, the effect of talc particle size was analysed on the thermal and mechanical properties of renewable resource-based, biodegradable polymer poly(lactic acid) (PLA). Various talc particles with an average particle size of 24, 1.9, and 0.7 mu m were blend mixed with PLA in 10 and 20 mass% containing no or an additional 10 mass% of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to increase molecular chain mobility. It was demonstrated that with decreasing talc particle size, its nucleation ability increased as well as all of the investigated mechanical properties of the compounds, however, in case of compounds containing PEG, this tendency was the opposite according to Charpy impact strength results. The talc with the best nucleating ability was selected and a full factorial design of experiment was made to optimise the talc and PEG content and to investigate their cross-effect in the 1-3-5-10-15 mass% additive content range. Finally, the effect of mould temperature and cooling time was analysed on the crystallinity and heat deflection temperature of the final injection-moulded parts.