Study on the Preparation and Properties of Polylactic acid/Ethyl cellulose Blend Films

Poly(lactic acid)/ethyl cellulose composite films(PLA-EC) were prepared by a casting method when using n-alkenyl succinic anhydride(ASA) as a novel plasticizer and chloroform as co-solvent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope(SEM) were used to analyze the morphological properties of the composite films. Mechanical properties and water absorption of the cast composite films were also measured. FT-IR indicates there are some strong interaction and good compatibility in composite films. XRD shows that both EC and PLA lost crystallinity after being plasticized, and the PLA/EC composite films plasticized with n-ASA result in a markedly enhanced coalescence of the two polymers. n-ASA is proved to be an ideal plasticizer for EC based films after testing mechanical properties. The PLA resin has a reinforcing effect on PLA/EC composite films when w(PLA) ≤37%. Water absorption decreases with increasing ASA content while it increases with increasing PLA content in the PLA/EC composite films. The composite films can be used as a new kind of drug delivery material with the wide application prospect.