Prof. Huang's last research program involved functionalization of poly(lactic acid), PLA, specifically with the goal to increase the glass transition temperature, increase crystallization rate and improve the mechanical toughness of PLA.  This talk will describe our collaboration with the late Prof. Huang, as well as more recent work that was inspired from that work. The synthesis of poly(lactic acid), PLA, functionalized with carboxylic acid salts, sulfonic acid salts and polyhedral oigomeric silsesquioane (POSS) will be discussed.  The properties of those materials were characterized with thermal analysis, rheology and X-ray scattering.  The introduction of the ionic species increased the glass transition and melt viscosity and provided temporary crosslinks that produced rubber elasticity behavior.

Synthesis and properties of functionalized poly(lactic acid)

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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