To assess the impact of graphite fillers on the thermal processing of graphite/poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites, a series of the composite samples with different graphite of industrial grade as fillers was prepared by melt mixing. The average size of the graphite grains ranged between 100 µm and 6 µm. For comparative purposes, one of the carbon fillers was expandable graphite. Composites were examined by SEM, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. As revealed by thermogravimetric (TG) analyses, graphite filler slightly lowered the temperature of thermal decomposition of the PLA matrix. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests showed that the room temperature crystallinity of the polymer matrix is strongly affected by the graphite filler. The crystallinity of the composites determined from the second heating cycle reached values close to 50%, while these values are close to zero for the neat polymer. The addition of graphite to PLA caused a slight reduction in the oxidation induction time (OIT). The melt flow rate (MFR) of the graphite/PLA composites was lower than the original PLA due to an increase in flow resistance associated with the high crystallinity of the polymer matrix. Expandable graphite did not cause changes in the structure of the polymer matrix during thermal treatment. The crystallinity of the composite with this filler did not increase after first heating and was close to the neat PLA MFR value, which was extremely high due to the low crystallinity of the PLA matrix and delamination of the filler at elevated temperature.

With continuous development of biodegradable polymers, new areas of applications are intensively researched. Modifications of these polymers are commonly conducted by an extrusion compounding process. While additives are changing desired properties, biodegradability of such composites can be deteriorated. The aim of the work is to investigate a novel, functional, organic additive, riboflavin (vitamin B-2), in terms of thermal stability, extrusion processability, wettability, surface energy, especially biodegradability, and when compounded with PLA. Additionally, a comparison of unmodified PLA resin, as well as PLA-modified with inorganic talc—which is known for its nucleation promotion in a variety of polymers—to PLA with riboflavin, was presented. Research reveals the outstanding thermal stability of riboflavin and the sufficient extrusion process properties with no significant changes of wettability and, surprisingly, a significant degradation rate as compared to pure PLA or and PLA with talc. The obtained results do not exclude further modifications of PLA depending on the target application, e.g., antimicrobial agents, flame retardants, etc.

Co-rotating twin-screw extrusion is an energy consuming process that is generally not fully optimised to a specific polymer. From the point of view of the efficiency of the extrusion process, the starting material should be characterised by small grain sizes in comparison to the screw channel area, small surface area to volume ratio and small internal friction between the pellets. To develop a model describing the effect of polylactide (PLA) grain size on the extrusion efficiency, a series of experiments with a twin-screw extruder were carried out during which the energy consumption; torque on shafts and temperature of the melt on the extruder die were monitored. As feed material, both the neat PLA with different grain sizes and the PLA with expandable graphite fillers and phosphorous-based flame retardants were used. Morphology and dispersion quality of the composites were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM); flammability, smoke production, mass loss and heat release rates were tested using cone calorimetry; and melt flow rate was determine using a plastometer. Moreover, the thermal properties of the obtained composites were determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results show that the choice of the starting material affects both the efficiency of the extrusion process and the flame retardancy properties of the composite materials.

This paper presents the test results and their discussion for the case of grinding ellipsoid-shaped samples from PA6. The state of expected loads and stresses i