Improvement of Heat Resistance for Bioplastics

We studied the adoption of plastics derived from plants (bioplastics) such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA) for automotive parts in order to contribute to suppressing the increase in CO, emissions. For this application. major improvements of heat and impact resistance are needed. As a method to improve heat resistance, we developed PLA combined with clay of high heat resistance. As a result. we succeeded in synthesizing a PLA-clay nanocomposite using 18(OH)₂-Mont. In-mold crystallization of PLA-clay nanocomposite lead to the great suppression of storage modulus decrease at high temperature. which in turn improved the heat resistance of PLA.