Thermal behavior of PLA plasticized by commercial and cardanol-derived plasticizers and the effect on the mechanical properties

This paper is aimed at studying the thermal properties of poly(lactic acid), PLA with different plasticizers. Plasticized PLA was obtained by mixing and extruding PLA with 20 mass% of neat cardanol, epoxidized cardanol acetate (ECA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) 400. The glass transition of completely amorphous samples, melting and crystallization behavior of plasticized PLA were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry. Results obtained...