Fabrication of Transparent Poly(lactic acid) Composites with Balanced Stiffness-Toughness <italic style="font-style: italic">via</italic> <italic style="font-style: italic">In situ</italic> Crosslinking of Segmented Copolymer

Xin-Xin Wang; Chao Dong; Qing Xu; Lin Zhu; Yu-Han Wei

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3769-4

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Fabrication of Transparent Poly(lactic acid) Composites with Balanced Stiffness-Toughness via In situ Crosslinking of Segmented Copolymer

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-09-22

- Fabrication of Transparent Poly(lactic acid) Composites with Balanced Stiffness-Toughness via In situ Crosslinking of Segmented Copolymer
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Pages: 1-15(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Shandong Key Laboratory of High Performance Polyolefin Materials and Recycling, College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
  b.Henkel Adhesive Technologies (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201203, China
- Author bio：
  
  weiyh@qust.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3769-4
  CLC：
- Received：30 March 2026，
  
  Revised：2026-05-29，
  
  Accepted：03 June 2026，
  
  Online First：22 September 2026，
  
  Published：2026-07
- Accepted：
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Wang, X. X.; Dong, C.; Xu, Q.; Zhu, L.; Wei, Y. H. Fabrication of transparent poly(lactic acid) composites with balanced stiffness-toughness via in situ crosslinking of segmented copolymer. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3769-4

Xin-Xin Wang, Chao Dong, Qing Xu, et al. Fabrication of Transparent Poly(lactic acid) Composites with Balanced Stiffness-Toughness via In situ Crosslinking of Segmented Copolymer[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-15. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3769-4.
Wang, X. X.; Dong, C.; Xu, Q.; Zhu, L.; Wei, Y. H. Fabrication of transparent poly(lactic acid) composites with balanced stiffness-toughness via in situ crosslinking of segmented copolymer. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3769-4 DOI：

Xin-Xin Wang, Chao Dong, Qing Xu, et al. Fabrication of Transparent Poly(lactic acid) Composites with Balanced Stiffness-Toughness via In situ Crosslinking of Segmented Copolymer[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-15. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3769-4. DOI：

摘要

Abstract

Preparing poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites with balanced stiffness toughness has been a research focus in recent years. In this study

we designed a segmented copolymer containing unsaturated carbon–carbon double bonds

polycaprolactone

-r-

polylactide (PCL

-r-

PLLA). This copolymer was then blended with PLA

via

in situ

crosslinking reaction. The torque curves and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra confirmed the occurrence of branching and crosslinking reactions within the PLA/PCL

-r-

PLLA composites. Tensile tests indicated that the PLA/PCL

-r-

PLLA composites exhibited excellent performance with balanced toughness stiffness. The elongation at break of the PLA/PCL

-r-

PLLA composites increased to approxi

mately 116%

which is approximately 25 times that of neat PLA

while the tensile strength decreased by only 20% compared to neat PLA. In addition

the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images indicated that the diameter of the dispersed PCL phase was close to the wavelength of visible light; therefore

this composite exhibited good transparency. Shear deformation and matrix cavitation have been identified as primary toughening mechanisms. This work presents an effective strategy for fabricating transparent PLA composites with a balanced stiffness–toughness performance. This would broaden their applications in transparent packaging.

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references

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Fabrication of Transparent Poly(lactic acid) Composites with Balanced Stiffness-Toughness via In situ Crosslinking of Segmented Copolymer

DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3769-4

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references