Karabo Innocent Matumba

Over the past years, poly(lactic acid) or polylactide (PLA) is commonly researched as a possible replacement for traditional fossil‐based polymers because of its compostability, biocompatibility, and high mechanical properties. PLA has a variety of applications in packaging, biomedical, and structural. However, PLA has limitations, such as high brittleness, low thermal stability, and a slow crystallization rate, which limits the wide range of applications. To overcome these limitations, the literature reports that blending PLA with other polymers, such as poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL), is an economically viable approach. Although blending PLA with PCL is considered a feasible approach, the blend system still suffers from immiscibility, depending on the blend composition. This review aims to highlight recent developments from 2014 to date on the processing of PLA/PCL blends, including their composites, with a primary focus on morphological characteristics and mechanical and thermal properties, including their potential applications in various sectors.

This study investigated the effect of the Joncryl concentration on the properties of polylactide/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PLA/PCL) and PLA/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) blends. The addition of Joncryl influenced the properties of both PLA-based blends. In the blend of PLA/PCL blends, the addition of Joncryl reduced the size of PCL droplets, which implies the compatibility of the two phases, while PLA/PEG blends showed a co-continuous type of morphology at 0.1% and 0.3 wt.% of Joncryl loading. The crystallinity of PCL and PEG was studied on both PLA/PCL and PLA/PEG blend systems. In both scenarios, the crystallinity of the blends decreased upon the addition of Joncryl. Thermal stabilities were shown to depend on the addition of Joncryl. The toughness increased when 0.5 wt.% of Joncryl was added to both systems. However, the stiffness of PLA/PCL decreased, while the stiffness of PLA/PEG increased with the increasing concentration of Joncryl. This study provides new insight into the effect of chain extenders on the compatibility of PLA-based blends.