Synthesis of Poly(Methylacrylate-b-"-Caprolactone) and Application to Compatibilizer for Poly(L-Lactide)/Poly("-Caprolactone) Blend System

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) was blended with poly("-caprolactone) (PCL) using a single-screw extruder in order to modify poor characteristic of these polymers. When the polymer was blended, the block copolymer that is synthesized by methyl acrylate (MA) and "-caprolactone ("-CL) via an atom transfer radical polymerization was used as a novel compatibilizer. The structure of the synthesized compatibilizer is determined by 1 H or 13 C NMR. From this result, it was found that the ring-opening polymerization of the "-CL was taken place in the hydroxyl end group of MA. Moreover, the morphologies of the PLLA/PCL solvent-cast blend films were observed by the optical microscope and SEM. From the optical microscopic observation, the morphologies of the solvent-cast blend films with the synthesized compatibilizer were more homogeneous than that of the solvent-cast blend films without the compatibilizer. It was confirmed that the phase structure of the solvent-cast blend films with the compatibilizer was more stable than that of solvent-cast blend films without the compatibilizer