Novel environmentally sustainable xylitol-based plasticizer: synthesis and application.

Anhydroxylitol tripelargonate (AXP), a novel environmentally sustainable plasticizer for poly(lactic acid)/poly(butylene succinate) (PLA/PBS) blends, is successfully synthesized. The chemical structure of AXP is confirmed by FTIR and ¹H-NMR. The influence of varying the addition of AXP on mechanical property, thermal property, crystallization, rheological behavior and micromorphology of PLA/PBS blends is investigated in detail. The results are shown that the toughness and elongation at break of the blends are improved gradually with the increase of plasticizer addition, which indicates that plasticizer play a good plasticizing role in toughening blends. Furthermore, the introduction of AXP reduces the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the blends and simultaneously enhances its crystallization and processability. Observing the impact section of blends by SEM, it can be found that plasticizer AXP could change the blend from brittle fracture to ductile fracture. Additionally, the plasticization of AXP rivalled those petro-based plasticizers, and could be potential substitute to supplant O-benzene plasticizer in the future industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]