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And Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene by R Designing and Engineering a Sustainable Polymer Material by Blending Poly(lactic acid) and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene by Ryan Vadori A Thesis Presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Ryan Vadori, December, 2016 ABSTRACT DESIGNING AND ENGINEERING A SUSTAINABLE POLYMER MATERIAL BY BLENDING POLY(LACTIC ACID) AND ACRYLONITRILE BUTADIENE STYRENE Ryan Richard Vadori Advisor: University of Guelph, 2017 Professor M.Misra Polymer blends containing poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) were made by extrusion and injection molding. Due to the immiscible nature of the two, coupling was required. Additives were found that increased adhesion between the two, leading to increased performance. This work outlines the development and detailed characterization of the blends. There are several areas of focus in this work. The processing of each polymer was assessed and the effects of particular process conditions were studied. Notably, ABS had a propensity to thermo-oxidative degradation, which is outline in the first original research chapter. The effects of the additives on the blend properties were investigated on the blends, showing the development of high performance blends. The effect of increasing the range of PLA contents was also studied. Statistical optimization was done to find the best blend formulation. Finally, the structure development of the blends was studied. Dedicated to my wife, Alexandra iii Acknowledgements The road to a Ph.D. dissertation is paved with the help of friends, colleagues, and mentors. The help and guidance of my co-advisors, Dr. Manju Misra and Dr. Amar Mohanty cannot be overstated. I wish to sincerely thank them for providing me the opportunity to work as their student. Their presence, guidance, and support, throughout my studies cannot be expressed in words. I would like to thank them for their trust and belief in me, their encouragement has instilled a self-confidence that I will carry with me into my future. I am also grateful to my committee advisors, Dr. Fantahun Defersha and Dr. Alfons Weersink who has brought perspective to me work. They took an interest not only in the path of my research, but also in my personal welfare throughout my studies. I am thankful to my Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre (BDDC) colleagues, especially the ones that were available for guidance. Dr. Nima Zarrinbakhsh was always available to offer very knowledgable advice. Ehsan Behazin, my fellow Ph.D. candidate, was my brother in the lab and the coffee shop. It is because of the support and encouragement of my family, especially my Mother and Father that I was able to complete. This doctorate too is due to them. The final but certainly not the least of my acknowledgments is to my wife. Her patience and understanding while I complete my studies are truly the attributes more commonly seen from members of sainthood. Her unending support is the reason that I am attaining this degree. This work is dedicated to her. iv The financial support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)/University of Guelph - Bioeconomy for Industrial Uses Research Program (Project #200245); the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC, Canada Discovery grants (Project #400322) and NSERC- AUTO21 NCE (Project #400372 & 400373); Ontario Research Fund, Research Excellence Program; Round-4 (ORF-RE04) from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation (MEDI) (Project #050289) and the Ontario Research Fund, Research Excellence Program; Round-7 (ORF-RE07) from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI), currently known as the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science (MRIS) (Project # 052644 and # 052665) to carry out this research is gratefully acknowledged. I greatly acknowledge the financial support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Canada and the FedDev, Ontario for the BDDC infrastructure facility to carry out this research. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ x List of Abbreviations and Defined Terms ............................................................................... xiii List of Peer reviewed journal Publications ............................................................................... xv Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Structure Of The Thesis and Overall Connections ....................................................................... 7 1.3 Research Problem ............................................................................................................................. 9 1.5 Significance ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2: A Criterion for Toughening PLA through Blending: Special Focus on Blending With ABS ..................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 PLA .................................................................................................................................................. 16 2.2.1 Structure & Synthesis ................................................................................................................ 16 2.2.2 Crystallinity ............................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.3 Properties & Processing Techniques ......................................................................................... 20 2.3 ABS .................................................................................................................................................. 21 2.3.1 Structure and Synthesis ............................................................................................................. 21 2.3.2 Properties................................................................................................................................... 23 2.3.3 ABS Toughening ....................................................................................................................... 24 2.4 General Blending/Toughening Theory ......................................................................................... 26 2.5 Failure Mechanisms ....................................................................................................................... 28 2.5.1 Poly(lactic acid) ........................................................................................................................ 28 2.5.2 Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene ................................................................................................ 30 2.6 Toughening Criterion – Critical Matrix Ligament Thickness Theory ...................................... 30 2.7 Strategies For Toughening ............................................................................................................. 33 2.7.1 Reactive Compatibilization ....................................................................................................... 34 2.7.2 Reactive Polymer Synthesis ...................................................................................................... 40 2.7.3 Processing Steps ........................................................................................................................ 44 2.7.4 Strategy Outlook ....................................................................................................................... 44 2.8 Philosophy of Experimentation ..................................................................................................... 46 2.9 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 46 2.10 References ..................................................................................................................................... 47 Chapter 3: Studies on the Reaction of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene to Melt Processing Conditions .................................................................................................................................... 57 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 58 3.2 Experimental ................................................................................................................................... 59 3.2.1 Materials ...................................................................................................................................
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