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In this study, we set out to modify poly(lactic acid) (PLA) by incorporating epoxidized ionic liquids (ILs) that were specifically designed with imidazolium-NTf2 moieties. First, we synthesized di-, tri- and tetra-epoxidized ILs, which were incorporated into a PLA matrix at 3, 5, and 10 wt% through a melt extrusion process. We investigated the relationship between the structure and properties of the resulting materials in terms of thermal, mechanical, rheological, and surface properties. The results showed the potential of ILs to impact these properties. Notably, the tri- and tetra-epoxidized ILs enhanced the thermal stability of the PLA matrix as well as the crystallinity while reducing the glass transition temperature and melting point, which is promising for reactive extrusion processing. Overall, this research opens new routes for using reactive ILs to improve the processing and properties of PLA polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aircraft, automotive industries and the increasing numbers of wind turbine blade lead to a huge amount of carbon fiber reinforced polymers requiring to be recycled and/or reused in a closed loop supply chain or circularity of materials. Herein, we have designed and synthesized a tetra-epoxidized imidazolium ionic liquid (Tetra-IL) monomer containing ester-cleavable groups. This monomer was incorporated as a molecular brick platform into conventional epoxy-amine networks in order to tailor the physical properties as well as the end-of-life of the resulting networks. Thus, the introduction of only 10% of IL-based comonomers significantly reduced the gel time by 85% opening perspectives in the field of fast-cure epoxy resins. Overall, all the networks designed in this work presented high thermal stability (>350 °C), higher T g included between 180 and 230 °C combined with hydrophobic behavior. Increasing the amount of IL monomer in the networks improved the homogeneity of thermosets and wettability of the epoxy resins with the carbon fibers (CF). Most importantly, the use of Tetra-IL led to the development of degradable networks under mild conditions within a brief timeframe (4.5 h) and allowing to recover the carbon fibers. In summary, this study highlighted the great potential of IL-based comonomers as molecular brick into conventional epoxy thermosets as a promising strategy to tailor the physical properties versus sustainability/degradability for the development of high-performance thermosets and composites. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]