Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Toughened Poly(L-lactic) Acid and Lignin Blends

Fully degradable poly(L-lactic) acid (PLLA) and lignin blends were prepared using the melt blending method. The impact strength of PLLA was dramatically improved by 52.4% and 36.6% with the addition of 5 wt% and 10 wt% of lignin, respectively. Meanwhile, the Young's modulus was maintained. Polarized optical microscopy (POM) results indicated that lignin served as a nucleating agent for the heterogeneous crystallization of PLLA in blends, which was responsible for the improvement in the impact strength. The introduced lignin also promoted the cold-crystallization of PLLA, which was demonstrated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The blends of PLLA with lignin are considered to be a promising material because of the improved toughness, the full degradability, and the lower price compared with pure PLLA.