Repeated Mechanical Recycling of Polylactic Acid Filled with Chalk

Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) was compounded with 30 wt% chalk and 5 wt% of a bio-based plasticiser on a twin screw extruder. Mechanical recycling of the obtained compound was studied by multiple extrusions up to six cycles.

The degradation was monitored by mechanical and thermal tests. Tensile and flexural tests did not reveal any major degradation after six cycles of processing. Characterising the material with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) did not detect any significant change of the thermal properties. The material was also characterised by FTIR and, again, no significant change was detected.

The material was finally characterised by melt flow index and by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR). Both tests revealed that some degradation had occurred. The ¹H-NMR clearly showed that the chain length had been reduced. Also, the MFI test showed that degradation had occurred. However, the study reveals that PLA filled with chalk can be recycled by repeated extrusion for up to 6 cycles, without severe degradation. This should be of relevance when considering the end-of-life treatment of polymer products made from PLA.