Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Oriented Polylactic acid/Graphene oxide Nanocomposite Films

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of solid state drawing at different conditions on mechanical and thermal properties of PLA/GO nanocomposite films. For this purpose, PLA/GO films were prepared by melt blending followed by compression molding. The films were uniaxially drawn at ratios of ۲ and ۳, temperatures of ۶۰ and ۷۰ œC, and speeds of ۲۰ and ۵۰ mm/min. Field emissions scanning electron microscopy revealed oriented structure for the samples after the drawing. The tensile testing and differential scanning calorimetry results indicated that all the properties were improved for all the drawn samples compared to the undrawn films. For the drawn samples, the stiffness, strength, glass transition temperature, and degree of crystallinity were increased by increasing the drawing ratio from ۲ to ۳ and also the temperature from ۶۰ to ۷۰ œC. In addition, the stiffness and strength were enhanced by increasing the drawing speed from ۲۰ to ۵۰ mm/min. Hence, this study introduces a new approach to improve the properties of renewable polymers for packaging and medical applications.