Reactive Compatibilization of Polyglycolic Acid/Polyurethane Blends for an Improved Strength–Toughness Balance
- 1State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
- 2Jiangyin Haida Rubber and Plastic Co., Ltd., Wuxi 214423, China
Abstract
Polyglycolic acid (PGA) possesses superior mechanical strength but suffers from inherent brittleness, which severely limits its application scope. In this work, we synthesized a high-toughness poly(ε-caprolactone)-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to toughen PGA, employing a multifunctional epoxy chain extender (ADR) as a reactive compatibilizer. Melt blending PGA with TPU successfully induced a brittle-to-ductile transition, evolving the phase morphology from a sea-island structure to a co-continuous architecture. While the binary PGA/TPU blend achieved a remarkable notched impact strength of 21.7 kJ m−2 (approximately 7.5 times that of neat PGA), the weak interfacial adhesion resulted in a drastic sacrifice of tensile strength, which plummeted from 131.9 MPa to 37.1 MPa. To overcome this trade-off, ADR was introduced to promote chain extension, branching, and enhanced interfacial interactions during melt blending. Consequently, the representative blend achieved an improved strength–toughness balance, exhibiting a tensile strength of 75.1 MPa and a robust notched impact strength of 16.9 kJ m−2. The combination of high mechanical strength and enhanced impact resistance endows the developed PGA-based blends with considerable potential for advanced load-bearing and impact-resistant polymer components. In particular, these characteristics may enable their use in emerging applications such as compliant structural components, protective elements, and mechanically robust parts for biomimetic robotic systems.
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BibTeX
@article{zhao2026reactive,
title = {{Reactive Compatibilization of Polyglycolic Acid/Polyurethane Blends for an Improved Strength–Toughness Balance}},
author = {Xiuying Zhao and Zhi Chen and Xin Wang and Qingsheng Dong and Lin Liu and Jizhu Liang and Dexian Yin},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/polym18202471},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2471},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Reactive Compatibilization of Polyglycolic Acid/Polyurethane Blends for an Improved Strength–Toughness Balance
AU - Xiuying Zhao
AU - Zhi Chen
AU - Xin Wang
AU - Qingsheng Dong
AU - Lin Liu
AU - Jizhu Liang
AU - Dexian Yin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18202471
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2471
AB - Polyglycolic acid (PGA) possesses superior mechanical strength but suffers from inherent brittleness, which severely limits its application scope. In this work, we synthesized a high-toughness poly(ε-caprolactone)-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to toughen PGA, employing a multifunctional epoxy chain extender (ADR) as a reactive compatibilizer. Melt blending PGA with TPU successfully induced a brittle-to-ductile transition, evolving the phase morphology from a sea-island structure to a co-continuous architecture. While the binary PGA/TPU blend achieved a remarkable notched impact strength of 21.7 kJ m−2 (approximately 7.5 times that of neat PGA), the weak interfacial adhesion resulted in a drastic sacrifice of tensile strength, which plummeted from 131.9 MPa to 37.1 MPa. To overcome this trade-off, ADR was introduced to promote chain extension, branching, and enhanced interfacial interactions during melt blending. Consequently, the representative blend achieved an improved strength–toughness balance, exhibiting a tensile strength of 75.1 MPa and a robust notched impact strength of 16.9 kJ m−2. The combination of high mechanical strength and enhanced impact resistance endows the developed PGA-based blends with considerable potential for advanced load-bearing and impact-resistant polymer components. In particular, these characteristics may enable their use in emerging applications such as compliant structural components, protective elements, and mechanically robust parts for biomimetic robotic systems.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -