Abstract

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is regarded as one of the most promising biobased and biodegradable polymers due its various advantages including high mechanical strength, easy processability, high melting temperature, renewability, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. However, the inherent brittleness significantly restricts its wide application. Therefore, toughening PLA has attracted more and more attention and various materials have been used to blend with PLA for toughening. Considering the fact that the use of petroleum-based species to toughen PLA would partially sacrifice the sustainability, various renewable polymers have recently been employed to toughen PLA. A series of important achievements have been obtained but not reviewed. This article aims to review progress in toughening PLA with renewable polymers. The toughening theories and compatibilization strategies are also briefly introduced.

Introduction

Sustainable polymers that are derived from renewable resources have attracted more and more attention as they are not only petroleum independent but also environmentally benign. The wide use of sustainable polymers provides a good solution to reduce dependence of materials on fossil resources and to minimize plastic pollutions caused by indiscriminate use of petroleum-based polymers. Unfortunately, most of the sustainable polymers have some shortcomings that restrict their practical application. Therefore, property modification of sustainable polymers has become a very active and important realm of materials science.