Influence of Plasticizers Over Some Physico-chemical Properties of PLA

The use of polylactic acid (PLA) for food packaging is limited because it has poor mechanical and thermal properties, low ductility, and its oxygen barrier property is quite poor compared with polymers obtained from petrochemical resources. One main task of processors is to modify these properties in such a way that PLA to be able to compete with conventional polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene or poly(vinylchloride). Our studies were conducted to test the effect of different types of plasticizers on the PLA melt processing and also on its mechanical and thermal performance.