Preparation of Poly(Lactic Acid)/Bentonite Clay Bio-Nanocomposite

Recent advances in biodegradable polymers have attracted a great interest not only in traditional areas such as biomedical and pharmaceutical industry, but also in packaging applications, articles and injected membranes. The aim of this work was to produce bio-nanocomposites poly (lactic acid) - PLA with bentonite clay. The bio-nanocomposites were produced by melt intercalation with incorporation of 1 to 3 wt% of organoclay. The degree of dispersion of clays in the polymer, and consequently the structure of bio-nanocomposites produced was evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the thermal properties were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). XRD results indicated the formation of intercalated structures. It was observed the appearance of crystalline melting double peaks in bio-nanocomposites PLA.