| Summary: | Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/6 wt% halloysite nanotube (HNT) nanocomposites were prepared using melt compounding followed by compression molding. Two types of impact modifiers, i.e., maleic anhydride grafted styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene copolymer (SEBS-g-MA) and N,N'-ethylenebis(stearamide) (EBS) were used to toughen the PLA nanocomposites. The effects of water absorption on the thermal and impact properties of PLA/HNT at three different temperatures (i.e. 30°C, 40°C and 50°C) were investigated. The diffusion coefficient (D) of PLA was decreased by the incorporation of HNT and impact modifiers. It was found that the activation energy of water absorption (Ea) of PLA/HNT6/EBS is higher than that of PLA/HNT6/SEBS-g-MA nanocomposites. The reduction of impact strength, glass transition temperature (Tg), cold-crystallisation temperature (Tcc), and melting temperature (Tm) of the PLA samples is attributed to the hydrolytic degradation of PLA.
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