SBIR Phase I: Plasticized Poly(lactic Acid) (PLA) Nanocomposites

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发增塑聚乳酸（PLA）纳米复合材料。PLA是一种来源于玉米的生物聚合物，在室温下是刚性的，但可以通过添加大量增塑剂来使其更具弹性。增塑剂是小的，通常是挥发性的分子，它们被掺入但不结合到聚合物中，使其更柔软。这些增塑剂可以从PLA中迁移出来，在表面形成粘性层，使塑料变硬变脆。既能减少降低玻璃化转变温度所需的增塑剂量，又能防止增塑剂从聚合物中浸出的技术，将为PLA创造巨大的新市场机会。该第一阶段项目提出通过将纳米颗粒锚定的增塑剂并入PLA中来增加增塑剂的持久性。固定的增塑剂不会挥发，并且提取和迁移应该显著较低。锚定的增塑剂仍将影响主体材料的玻璃态到橡胶态的转变，并且增塑剂的持久性将显著增加。该项目的商业应用将在一些依赖石油作为起始材料的消费者使用市场中进行。它们包括柔性塑料薄膜，袋子和玩具。柔性PLA还具有在特定应用中取代聚烯烃和PVC等商品热塑性塑料的潜力。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Project will develop plasticized poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposites. PLA is a biopolymer derived from corn that is stiff at room temperature, but that can be made more flexible by adding significant amounts of plasticizers. Plasticizers are small, often volatile molecules that are incorporated, but not bound, into polymers to make them softer. These plasticizers can migrate out of PLA, forming a sticky layer on the surface and leaving the plastic hard and brittle. Technology that could both reduce the amount of plasticizer necessary to lower the glass transition temperature and to prevent the plasticizer from leaching out of the polymer would create large new market opportunities for PLA. This Phase I project proposes to increase the permanence of plasticizers by incorporating nanoparticle-anchored plasticizers into PLA. Anchored plasticizers would not be volatile, and extraction and migration should be significantly lower. The anchored plasticizer will still affect the glassy to rubbery transition of the host material, and yet the permanence of the plasticizer will be substantially increased. The commercial applications of this project will be in a number of consumer use markets that rely on petroleum as the starting material. They include flexible plastic films, bags, and toys. Flexible PLA also has the potential to replace commodity thermoplastics like polyolefins and PVC in specific applications.