Thermogravimetric (TG) analyses of PLA and nanocomposites
were performed on Simultaneous TGA–DTA
Thermal Analysis type SDT 2960 (TA Instruments, UK)
All measurements were carried out at a heating rate of
10 C min-1 under air flow from room temperature to
600 C according to the procedure specified in PNEN
ISO 11358:2004.
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed
on a differential scanning calorimeter (Polymer Laboratories,
Epson, UK) under nitrogen screening. Thermal
behaviour of PLA and PLA/clay nanocomposites was
examined in a temperature range of 25–220 C with a
heating rate of 10 C min-1 according to PNEN
ISO 11357:2002. The degree of crystallinity (Xm) was
evaluated by applying the following Eq. (1), also used by
other authors