Polypropylene binary and ternary blends with poly(lactic acid), and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene: Preparation and characterization

Polypropylene (PP) is one of the most important polymers; it has a number of advantages over other polymers in plastic and textile applications. PP has a high work of rupture, indicating that it is a tough plastic, and a high degree of crystallinity, resulting in a fiber that is strong and resilient. However, PP has poor degradability and is high hydrophobic. This makes it difficult to dispose the PP articles after use. Therefore, PP was blended with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) in efforts to enhance the degradability of PP. It was found that the blend (PP/PLA) has good processability and dyeability. Nevertheless, drawbacks were noted in this blend (PP/PLA), such as lower mechanical properties (tensile strength and modulus) comparing with those of pure PLA. From another side, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) was used for improving the impact strength of PLA. In this chapter binary and ternary blends with polypropylene, poly(lactic acid), and ABS were prepared and characterized in efforts to obtain new materials with improved properties, such works are very important in the development of composites and blends from biodegradable polyesters.