Toughening of PLA by using CSR particles
Firstly, PLA pellets and the impact modifier, ranging from 0-10wt%, were dry blended by using a high speed mixer (Thermo, PRISM Pilot 3) at the speed of 700 rpm for sec. Table 1 shows the blend formulations of the PLA and the CSR particles. To toughen the PLA, each mixer was then melt-blended at 165-190 ºc by using a twin screw extruder Labtech Engineering, LTE20-40). Each of the PLA/CSR compositions was processed by using an injection molding machine (Manumold) at 190-200 ºc under a pressure of 70 bar to prepare standard specimens for subsequent testing and characterization.