Preparation and Characterization of Poly (lactic acid) and Poly (butylene succinate) Blend Fibers by Melt-Blown Process

Abstract

In this research, polylactic acid (PLA) and polybutylene succinate (PBS) blended fibers were studied and prepared at different ratios by Melt Blown process. Which is a fast technique, low cost and the resulting fiber is small and fine (nanometer to micrometer). It will be molded with a nozzle temperature at 270 °C and the condition of adjusting the forming is Polymer feed rate of 13.2 g/hole/min, air pressure (ATR) of 0.4 MPa, and distance between nozzle tip and fiber collector 45 cm. Then the physical, Thermal, mechanical properties and crystallization structure were studied. From the experiment, it was found that the fiber characteristics were not continuous and polybutylene succinate effects the fiber size as the volume increases. The thermal properties (DSC) showed the cold crystallization temperature (T_cc) of the polylactic acid at 105.8 °C and the composite fiber sheet at 91.7 °C. This suggests that the addition of polybutylene succinate may effect polylactic acid crystallization. This corresponds to the results of the X-ray diffraction test (XRD) which revealed increased crystallinity of polylactic acid when 10 %wt. of polybutylene succinate was added. It was also found that the addition of polybutylene succinate also increased the tensile properties. The results of this experiment, it is expected that the synthesized fibers will be useful for further development in the textile industry.