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Micro-composites based on polylactic acid with kaolinite or rice husk particles and their performance on water vapor permeability

ABSTRACT In this work, the effect of addition of kaolinite and rice husk microparticles on the water vapor permeability of polylactic acid (PLA) was evaluated. The PLA-composites materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and optical microscopy. For the composite preparation, an experimental design was established using two factors: additive type and concentration. When evaluating the water vapor permeability of the composites, it was found that the incorporation of kaolinite at 1% and 5% reduced the permeability coefficient of PLA. Furthermore, the inclusion of 5% kaolinite showed an increase on the tensile strength of the material. By contrast, the addition of rice husk produced an increase on water vapor permeability of the material and a decrease of both the tensile strength and ductility (percent of elongation at fracture). The higher dispersion and more regular morphology of the kaolinite particles could explain the enhancement of the gas barrier. A similar thermal behavior was observed for both PLA and composite materials, confirming that no damage of these properties was caused with the incorporation of the filler particles.