Miscible Blends of Polylactide and Poly(methyl methacrylate): Morphology, Structure, and Thermal Behavior

The miscibility of polylactic acid (PLA) and atactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blends is investigated as a function of composition. The blends quenched from the melt show the presence of a single glass transition temperature dependent on the composition. The equilibrium melting temperature is determined using the Hoffman-Weeks method and a depression is observed with increasing content of the PMMA component. The PLA spherulite growth rate and the overall isothermal crystallization rates decrease with increasing the amount of the amorphous component. The increase of the long period value as a function of the PMMA content in the blend is due to the segregation of PMMA component in the amorphous PLA interlamellar regions. The Lauritzen-Hoffman secondary nucleation theory analysis shows that the segregation of the PMMA in the interlamellar region induces an increase in the surface entropy of folding. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.