In the present work, poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/functionalized silica hybrids were prepared via reactive extrusion and their thermal, rheological, and degradation properties were investigated. The PLA was blended through reactive extrusion with functionalized silica, where silica network was formed by grafting-condensation reaction with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and (3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxy-silane. The chemical structure and morphology were investigated by Fourier-transform infrared spectra, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope and field-emission scanning electron microscope. Also, thermal, rheological properties and degradation behavior were measured. The glass transition temperature of the hybrids tended to decrease with increasing TEOS contents, while the degrees of crystallinity increased to about 57% according to TEOS contents. The complex viscosity and storage modulus of PLA/silica hybrids were enhanced clearly compared to that of neat PLA. While the molecular weight of pure PLA was decreased about 12% during processing, the decrease was smaller as less than 10% by the addition of TEOS. The η₀ (zero-shear rate viscosity) using the Cross model was more than doubled by introducing TEOS. The resistance of hydrolysis was also improved as a result of the addition of silica network. In conclusion, the hybridization of PLA and silica network influenced the thermal and rheological properties, by which it may be possible to apply for various manufacturing process such as foam molding and blow molding, etc.

中文翻译：

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反应挤出的聚乳酸/功能化二氧化硅杂化物：热，流变和降解行为

在目前的工作中，聚乳酸（PLA）/官能化二氧化硅杂化物是通过研究了反应挤出及其热，流变和降解性能。通过反应性挤出将PLA与功能化二氧化硅共混，其中二氧化硅网络是通过与四乙氧基硅烷（TEOS）和（3-环氧丙氧基丙基）三甲氧基硅烷的接枝-缩合反应形成的。用傅里叶变换红外光谱，能量色散X射线光谱仪和场发射扫描电子显微镜研究了化学结构和形貌。而且，测量了热，流变性质和降解行为。杂化物的玻璃化转变温度倾向于随着TEOS含量的增加而降低，而结晶度则根据TEOS含量增加到约57％。与纯PLA相比，PLA /二氧化硅杂化物的复数粘度和储能模量明显提高。尽管在加工过程中纯PLA的分子量降低了约12％，但通过添加TEOS，降低幅度小于10％。的η ₀使用交叉模型（零剪切速率粘度）通过引入TEOS被一倍以上。由于添加了二氧化硅网络，耐水解性也得到了改善。总之，PLA和二氧化硅网络的杂化影响了热和流变性，因此可以应用于各种制造工艺，例如泡沫成型和吹塑成型等。