Enhanced properties of polylactide/polyamide 11 blends by reactive compatibilization

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Polylactide (PLA)/polyamide 11 (PA11) blends with 75/25 wt.% composition were prepared using an internal mixer. An epoxy‐based chain extender, Joncryl® ADR 4468, was used for reactive compatibilization of the blends. The effect of the mixing strategy of the chain extender with the blend components on its compatibilization effect and on the morphological, rheological, thermomechanical, and mechanical properties of the blends was determined. Due to more reactivity of the chain extender towards PLA compared to PA11, preparing the blends using the epoxy‐modified PA11 resulted in enhanced compatibilization and a reduction of the number‐average diameter of the dispersed droplets from 1.89 to 0.64 μm in the compatibilized blends. Larger complex viscosity and storage modulus were observed for blends prepared using the modified PA11 compared to blends from the modified PLA, consistent with the observed refinement of the morphology. Strain at break of the compatibilized blends increased to 150% compared to 6% for the neat PLA while maintaining the tensile strength and modulus at 62 MPa and 2 GPa (70 MPa and 2.4 GPa for PLA), respectively. The impact toughness increased from 24 J/m for neat PLA to around 40 J/m in compatibilized blends.