Thermal–mechanical property and fracture behaviour of plasticised PLA–CaCO 3 nanocomposite

This study investigates the influence of two plasticisers, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and tributyl citrate (TbC), on the thermomechanical properties and fracture behaviour of nanosized calcium carbonate blended poly(lactic acid). Various compositions of nanocomposites were compounded and processed using co-rotating twin screw extrusion and compression moulding. DMA analysis shows that adding nano-CaCO₃ reduced the storage modulus (E′) of the nanocomposite while the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the samples was not affected. Furthermore, plasticised poly(lactic acid) (PLA) showed an improvement in elongation at break in all samples, and the impact resistance of the nanocomposites was also improved by 1·6 times with the addition of 20 phr PEG plasticiser and by 1·4 times with the addition of 20 phr TbC plasticiser. Morphological study reveals that the fracture behaviour of PLA-CaCO₃ nanocomposites changed from brittle to ductile after plasticisers were incorporated.