• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.581-587
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• 2009

PLA/PEG blend fibers composed of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) were prepared via melt blending and spinning for bioabsorbable filament sutures. The blend fibers hydrolyzed with the immersion in a phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.4 and $37\;^{\circ}C$ for 1~8 weeks. The effects of blending time, blend composition, and hydrolysis time on the weight loss and tensile strength of the hydrolyzed blend fibers were investigated. After hydrolysis, the weight loss of the blend fibers increased with increasing PEG content, blending time, and hydrolysis time. The tensile strength and tensile modulus of the blend fibers decreased with increasing PEG content, blending time, and hydrolysis time. Therefore, it can be concluded that the weight loss of the PLA/PEG blend fibers was less than 0.9% even at hydrolysis time of 2 weeks and their strength retentions were over 90%.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.164-168
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• 2009

The effects of chemically modified thermoplastic starch (CMPS) on the morphology, thermal and mechanical properties of the blends of poly (lactic acid)(PLA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)(PBAT) were studied. Blends of PLA/PBAT with the CMPS contents of 10, 20 and 30 wt% on the basis of PLA/PBAT weight were prepared by a twin screw extruder. The morphology, thermal and mechanical properties of the blends were examined by using scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and a tensile tester. The DSC study revealed that PLA/PBAT blends are thermodynamically immiscible, while the compatibility was much improved by addition of the CMPS.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.455-460
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• 2012

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel has been studied as an important drug delivery system due to its volume transition or temperature-responsive swelling properties, whose phase separation temperature is similar to the body temperature. However, because of hydrophilic PNIPAM, hydrophobic drugs are difficult to be uniformly loaded in the networks. Antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid (LA) can be prepared as a polymer(polylipoic acid, PLA) by ring opening polymerization, which is hardly developed as a material due to its low molecular weight and easy depolymerization. To overcome this limitation, a hydrophobic active ingredient, LA was reacted with NIPAM into stable hydrogels. Simple thermal radical reaction successfully resulted in a hydrogel (PNIPAM/PLA), which was confirmed by DSC, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. The PNIPAM/PLA showed temperature-responsive properties, and their volume swelling decreased with an increase in lipoic acid content. These hydrogels can carry hydrophobic drugs with PNIPAM and the hydrogels could be useful as final drug delivery systems having lipoic acid as an antioxidant.

• Composites Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.18-28
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• 2009

Blends of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) were prepared by reaction extrusion with para-phenylene diisocyanate (PPDI). The crystallization behavior and biodegradability were investigated by using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), a wide angle X-ray diffractometer (WAXD), a contact angle goniometer, and a buffer solution containing esterase. The addition of PBT into PLA polymer matrix induced the cold crystallization of PLA phase, and the crystallization rate of PLA phase was significantly accelerated when both PBT and PPDI participated in the reaction with PLA simultaneously. But the chain extension caused by PPDI decreased the crystallinity and hydrophilicity of PLA and PBT phases. The crystallinity and hydrophilicity did not affect the biodegradability of PLA/PBT blends. However, phase separation between PLA and PBT in PLA/PBT blends increased the interfacial area exposed to the hydrolysis of enzyme, resulting in the improved degradability rate of PLA phase. In contrast, the improved interfacial adhesion between PLA and PBT matrices by the reaction with PPDI reduced the area exposed to the enzyme to decrease the degradation rate of PLA phase.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.606-612
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• 2013

Glycidol-poly(lactide) (Gly-PLA) were synthesized via L-lactide ring opening polymerization with glycidol as an initiator and $Al(O-i-Pr)_3$ catalyst. The structure of Gly-PLA was analyzed and successfully confirmed by 1H NMR. The OH group of glycidol in Gly-PLA was absent according to the $^1H$ NMR analysis, indicating that the terminal OH group of glycidol successfully served as an initiator in the L-lactide polymerization. The solution and bulk polymerizations of L-lactide with glycidol were performed to examine the effect of L-lactide/glycidol molar ratio, polymerization temperature and time on the molecular characteristics of Gly-PLA. The conversion and molecular weight increased with an increase in L-lactide/glycidol molar ratio. Gly-PLA showed the bimodal type DSC curve. The low $T_m$ peak of low molecular weight reduced but the high $T_m$ peak of high molecular weight increased as L-lactide/glycidol molar ratio increased.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.330-336
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• 2007

Luminescent CdSe/ZnS QDs, with emission in the red region of the spectrum, were synthesized and encapsulated in poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactide) diblock copolymer micelles, to prepare water-soluble, bio-compatible QD micelles. PEG-PLA diblock copolymers were synthesized by ring opening polymerization of D,L-lactide, in the presence of methoxy PEG as a macro initiator. QDs were encapsulated with PEG-PLA polymers using a solid dispersion method in chloroform. The resultant polymer micelles, with encapsulated QDs, were characterized using various analytical techniques, such as UV- Vis measurement, light scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic forced microscopy (AFM). The polymer micelles, with encapsulated QDs, were spherical and showed diameters in the range of 20-150 nm. The encapsulated QDs were highly luminescent, and have high potential for applications in biomedical imaging and detection.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.49-56
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• 2011

Mulching technique is used to control the temperature and moisture content of soil by covering the ground surface. Most kinds of mulching film are made of polyethylene which is non-biodegradable synthetic polymer. Utilizing these films has been one of the main sources in soil pollution. Thus residual films under the ground should be removed after a certain period of time. Therefore, an alternative mulching material made of biodegradable functional paper is considered instead of non-biodegradable films. The mulching sheet produced from paper basis has a functionality to be naturally degraded and then recycled to the bio-materials on soil. In this study, the paper based-mulching sheet coated with biodegradable polymer was specially produced using a laboratory bar coater. Coating colors prepared by dissolving PBS/PLA in chloroform were applied to kraft paper. The mechanical strength and aging properties of this mulching sheet were investigated. The burst strength of polymer-coated paper was decreased with the increase of the PBS ratio in PBS/PLA blends, and, in particular, 30/70 blending condition led to good stability in heat-aging atmosphere for 60 days.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.920-923
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• 2013

In this paper, the characteristics of a carbon nanotube composite heat sink proposed to replace the advanced Al heat sinks for LED lighting devices were studied. Proposed CMP-PLA heat sink was made by mixing 20~70 wt% carbon nanotube, 20~70 wt% bio-degradable polymer of melt-blended PLA (poly lactic acid) and PBS (poly butylene succinate) and PLA nucleating agents composed of the mixture of soybean oil and biotites, at $150{\sim}220^{\circ}C$ with 1,000~1,500 rpm. Optical and electric characteristics of 7.5 W LED lighting devices using heat sinks with such prepared CMP-PLA were investigated. And, the properties of the heat, which was not released from the CMP-PLA type heat sinks, was also investigated. The color temperature of LED lighting devices using the CMP-PLA heat sinks was 5,956 K, which is x= 0.32 and y= 0.34 in the XY chromaticity, and the color rendering index was 75. The luminous flux and the luminous efficiency of LED lighting devices using the CMP-PLA heat sinks was 540.6 lm and 72.68 lm/W respectively. Measured initial temperature of the heat sinks was $27^{\circ}C$, and their temperature increased as time to be saturated at $52^{\circ}C$ after an hour.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.77-88
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• 2019

One way of appling 3D printing to garments is through the combination of 3D polymer filaments in textile fabrics. it is essential to understand the interface between the polymer and the 3D composite fabric in order to enhance the adhesion strength between the polymers and the peeling strength between the fabric and the polymer. In this study, the adhesion of composite printed specimens using a combination of fabric and polymers for 3D printing was investigated, and also the change in adhesion was investigated after the composite fabric printed with polymers was subjected to constant pressure. Through this process, the aims to help develop and utilize 3D printing textures by providing basic data to enhance durability of 3D printing composite fabrics. The measure of the peeling strength of the composite fabric prepared by printing on a fabric using PLA, TPU, Nylon polymer was obtained as follows; TPU polymer for 3D printing showed significantly higher peel strength than polymers of composite fabric using PLA and Nylon polymer. In the case of TPU polymer, the adhesive was crosslinked because of the reaction between polyurethane and water on the surface of the fabric, thus increasing the adhesion. It could be observed that the adhesion between the polymer and the fiber is determined more by the mechanical effect rather than by its chemical composition. To achieve efficient bonding of the fibers, it is possible to modify the fiber surface mechanically and chemically, and consider the deposition process in terms of temperature, pressure and build density.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.270-274
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• 2004

Blends of poly(l-lactide) (PLA) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) were prepared by melt mixing in order to improve the brittleness of PLA. A reactive compatibilizer with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), PE-GMA, was required as a compatibilizer due to the immiscibility between PLA and LDPE. It contributes to reduce the domain size of dispersed phase and enhance the tensile properties of PLA/LDPE blends, especially for PLA matrix blends. A reaction product between PLA and PE-GMA, which was formed during melt-mixing and considered to act as a reactive compatibilizer, was characterized using $ ^1H-NMR$ spectroscopy.