Accelerated Laboratory Weathering of Polypropylene/Poly (Lactic Acid) Blends

To solve the pollution problems that result from polypropylene (PP), suitable biopolymers such as poly (lactic acid) (PLA) were selected to blend with PP. Since PP/PLA blends are often exposed to the natural environment, it is necessary to study the photodegradation behavior of PP/PLA blends. In this paper, PP/PLA blends with different compositions were prepared by extrusion and subjected to the accelerated laboratory weathering equipment. The effects of compatibilizers on the degradation behavior of PP/PLA blends were also studied. The weatherability of PP/PLA blends was studied through weight loss, optical microscope, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results revealed that PP is easy to degrade than PLA during accelerated laboratory weathering. PP/PLA blends are susceptible to the accelerated laboratory weathering process, and PP-rich and PLA-rich blends reduce the weathering resistance. Moreover, the results indicate that the initial degradation temperature, melting temperature, and crystallization temperature decrease after weathering related to the decreased thermal stability of PP/PLA blends. For instance, the initial degradation temperature of PP/PLA8.2 reduces from 332.2 °C to 320.2 °C. Moreover, the compatibilized sample is generally more resistant to weathering conditions than the uncompatibilized one due to the higher compatibility of PP and PLA.