ABSTRACTCHARACTERIZATION OF METALLIC ORGANIC FRAMEWORK AND POLYLACTIC ACID COMPOSITE AND THE METHOD OF THEIR PREPARATIONByDHAYALAN ELANGOVANThe research in this paper develops biodegradable functional polyester membranes based on poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and metallic organic frameworks (MOFs). PLA without and with the addition of 1, 3, and 5 w/w % MOF was melt compounded in a twin microextruder-compounder. Disc, rectangular and dumb-bell shaped samples were produced and their optical, physical, thermal, mechanical, thermo-mechanical and barrier properties were evaluated. The PLA and MOF composites showed poor interfacial adhesion between the PLA matrix and the MOF particles, which was previously predicted by using the Hansen's solubility parameters. The FTIR, UV and colorimetric studies showed selective absorption at particular wavelengths due to the presence of the MOF. The DMA results revealed that the heat deflection temperature (HDT), storage modulus, loss modulus and Tan ∆ of the PLA/MOF composites did not change when compared to the PLA samples. However, there was a significant decrease in the brittleness of the PLA/MOF composite as evidenced by an increase of 15% in Izod impact strength and of 170% in elongation at break with respect to the PLA control samples. The permeability of PLA/MOF composite films to oxygen and water did not change when compared to the neat PLA film. However, the sorption capacity of the PLA/MOF composites films increased up to two fold at each relative humidity to which the films were exposed. The sorption and desorption curves of the PLA/MOF composite films showed a hysteresis phenomenon.
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