Abstract Plasticizers are additives used to soften polymers, but most of them are oily or waxy and are difficult to process in a continuous hot-melt process. The plasticizing effect of four functionalized ferulic acid derivatives designed with controlled solubility parameters was investigated upon the study of both the thermal stability and the mechanical properties of polylactic acid (PLA) blends. The synthesized powders were incorporated into PLA through a continuous hot-melt process (extrusion) allowing the derivatives to turn from crystalline to an amorphous state. Such phase transition permitted the derivatives to act as plasticizers, reaching a reduction of the Young's modulus of PLA by 40% for one of the derivatives blended at 20 wt%. Another derivative decreased the glass transition of the PLA from 56.6 °C to 26.3 °C at the same content. These works demonstrate the interest of using phase transition additives to ease the mixing of efficient plasticizers by hot-melt processing.

中文翻译：

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阿魏酸衍生物用作生物基粉末，可在连续热熔过程中方便地塑化聚乳酸

摘要 增塑剂是用于软化聚合物的添加剂，但大多呈油性或蜡状，难以在连续热熔过程中加工。通过对聚乳酸 (PLA) 共混物的热稳定性和机械性能的研究，研究了以受控溶解度参数设计的四种功能化阿魏酸衍生物的增塑效果。合成的粉末通过连续热熔过程（挤出）加入到 PLA 中，使衍生物从结晶状态转变为无定形状态。这种相变允许衍生物充当增塑剂，对于以 20 wt% 混合的衍生物之一，PLA 的杨氏模量降低了 40%。另一种衍生物将 PLA 的玻璃化转变从 56.6 °C 降低到 26 °C。3°C 相同含量。这些工作证明了使用相变添加剂通过热熔加工来简化高效增塑剂的混合的重要性。