Table 2 Characteristics of the Raw Materials Used

Polylactic Acid 1

NatureWorks® Ingeo™ Tokyo, Japan⁶²

Physical Properties Ingeo 2003D

Specific Density: 1.24 g/cm3

Melt flow g/10 min (210°C, 2.16 kg) = 6

Clarity: transparent

Mechanical Properties

Tensile Strength at Break: 53 MPa

Tensile Modulus: 3.5 GPa

Tensile Elongation: 6%

Shrinkage is similar to PET

Heat Distortion Temperature: 55°C

Thermal Properties

Melting Point: 145–160 °C

Distortion Temperature at 0.46 MPa: 55.0 °C

Glass Transition Temperature, Tg: 55.0–60.0 °C

Polylactic Acid 2

Luminy® LX975, Total Corbion PLA, Gorinchem, Netherlands⁶³

Physical Properties

Specific Density: 1.24 g/cm3

Melt Flow g/10 min (210 °C, 2.16 kg) = 10

Clarity: Transparent

Mechanical Properties

Tensile Strength at Break: 40 MPa

Tensile Modulus: 3.5 GPa

Tensile Elongation: 5%

Shrinkage is similar to PET

Heat Distortion Temperature: 60 °C

Thermal Properties

Melting Point: 130 °C

Distortion Temperature at 0.46 MPa: 60.0 °C

Glass Transition Temperature, Tg: 60.0 °C

Proviplast 2624 (Tributil 2-acetilcitrat)

Proviplast 2624 by Proviron, Hangzhou, China⁶⁴

Acts as a general purpose partially bioplasticizer. It exhibits excellent low temperature flexibility, improved high temperature stability and good UV stability.

Clarity: transparent

Effective for: PVC, PVC copolymers, acrylics and cellulosics. It is FDA approved for direct and indirect food contact applications.

Polyethylene glycol 600 (PEG)

Sigma-Aldrich;

Merck⁶⁵

Color: colorless

Melting point: 17–22 °C

pH value: 5–7 (100 g/l, H2O, 20 °C)

Density: 1.13 g/cm3

Average molecular mass: 570–630.