Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 6, 2026

The Effect of Construction and Demolition Waste Plastic Fractions on Wood-Polymer Composite Properties
Published on: June 7, 2020
Material ratio and properties of polylactic acid/polypropylene carbonate/corn stover composites
Zihan Zhao1, Ruiwen Yu1, Zhihao Zhang1
1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihua University, Jilin, 132013, China.
None:
Polylactic acid (PLA)/corn stover composites exhibit the drawback of high brittleness, while polypropylene carbonate (PPC) possesses excellent flexibility. Therefore, this study employed PPC to enhance and toughen PLA/corn straw composites. Using the response surface methodology, the preparation process and formulation of PLA/PPC/corn straw composites were thoroughly investigated and optimized. Through multi-objective analysis of regression equations, the optimal material parameters were determined as follows: PLA:PPC ratio of 54:46, corn straw content of 62 %, and corn straw particle size of 80-120 mesh. Under these conditions, the impact strength, bending strength, and tensile strength of the PLA/PPC/corn straw composites reached 6.21 kJ/m2, 52.30 MPa, and 24.12 MPa, respectively, representing improvements of 81.05 %, 41.12 %, and 99.01 % compared to PLA/corn straw composites. FTIR analysis indicated the presence of hydrogen bonding interactions among the composite components. XRD revealed that the incorporation of PPC reduced the crystallinity of the PLA/corn straw composites, thereby contributing to the enhancement of strength and toughness. SEM images demonstrated that the PLA/PPC/corn straw composites neither exhibited cracks typical of PLA/corn straw composites nor displayed pore phenomena commonly observed in PPC/corn straw composites, indicating excellent interfacial compatibility. Therefore, this work provides a theoretical foundation for the industrial development of biodegradable composites.
Related Concept Videos
Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters
Polyesters are commonly prepared from terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol; the crude product is known as poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET. However, polyesters are synthesized industrially by transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol at 150 °C. The two reactants and the polymer...
Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity
Molecular Weight of Step-Growth Polymers
As the step-growth polymerization involves step-wise condensation of monomers, the molecular weight also builds up eventually. Consequently, high molecular weight polymers are obtained at the late stages of the polymerization, where 99% of monomers have been consumed.
The extent of the...
Characteristics and Nomenclature of Copolymers
Polymer Classification: Architecture
Characteristics and Nomenclature of Homopolymers

