The Effect of Ageing on Selected Properties of Polylactide Modified with Blowing Agents

The modification of processing and functional properties of polymeric materials is widely used in polymer processing. The current progress in this field involves the introduction of new ways of modifying polymers, often by changing their structure from homogeneous to porous. As a result, these polymers have lower density, and thus modified processing and functional properties. The paper presents the results of a study on the selected properties of the injection-molded specimens of polylactide (PLA) modified with blowing agents, before and after thermal ageing. Blowing agents with exothermic (Hydrocerol 530) and endothermic decomposition (Hydrocerol ITP-810, Expancel 951 MB 120 and LyCell F-017) were used. The mass content of the blowing agents was changed in the range from 0.5% to 3%. The study involved examination of the changes in properties such as Young’s modulus, tensile strength, tensile stress, strain at maximum tensile stress, Vicat softening temperature and impact strength depending on the mass content and type of blowing agent before and after the ageing process.