Improving microinjection processability of biodegradable elastomer poly(l‐lactide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) by blending with polycaprolactone and plasticizing with polyethylene glycol

Abstract

AbstractPoly(l‐lactide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) (PLCL) is a biodegradable elastomer, but its applications are limited due to weak mechanical strength and processability. To overcome these limitations, PLCL was modified by incorporating polycaprolactone (PCL) and plasticizing with polyethylene glycol (PEG) for microinjection molding. The molded PLCL/PCL/PEG parts were characterized in terms of thermal properties, rheological properties, and mechanical properties. The results indicate that increasing the PCL content from 20% to 50% effectively enhanced the mechanical properties of the blend. Moreover, the addition of PEG enhanced the processability of the blends in the microinjection molding process with negligible impacts on their mechanical properties. PEG plasticizes the PLCL/PCL blend by reducing the intermolecular interactions of the blend, and the effect is more pronounced with a PEG of lower molecular weight.