Biobased Engineering Plastic Blends for Automotive Application

The problem of introducing the bio-based content in polycarbonate blends was attempted numerous times. Most of these attempts were aimed on poly(carbonate) modification via addition of poly(lactic acid). Typically, these blends have intrinsic poor interphase compatibility resulting in poor impact strength and low heat deflection temperature. Therefore, research was mostly aimed on compatibilization of PC/PLA blends and improving mechanical properties by means of introduction of various additives to overcome brittleness and low heat resistance. In present study PC/PLA blend containing 27-45 wt.% of PLA was modified using specific impact modifier. It was shown that impact modifier concentrated exclusively in brittle PLA phase allowing achieving impact strength exceeding that of pure PC with relatively small amounts of modifier. The addition of PLA to PC allowed to improve overall mechanical properties while maintaining its heat resistance in the ranges over 130 °C