Today, vehicle lightening is a major challenge to improve performance and reduce CO2 emissions. Among the possible initiatives, biobased materials like poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) have been proposed for realizing vehicle components. However, PLLA is generally characterized by poor durability, high brittleness, and poor flexibility. Improving these properties by employing additives presents limitations, as the system can release them over time. An interesting yet underexplored alternative is the combination of PLLA with covalent adaptable networks (CANs). CANs are cross-linked polymers, so they are characterized by remarkable thermal, mechanical, and solvent resistance properties. Moreover, CANs solve the issue of the non-recyclability and non-reprocessability of conventional thermosets by incorporating reversible covalent bonds, such as imine bonds, within polymer chains. Biobased CANs can be developed from resins based on vanillin[1], a lignin-derived molecule that has been properly functionalized to obtain polyfunctional monomers containing imine groups (Figure 1). In this work, we focused on developing bio-based systems by mixing PLLA with vanillin-derived CAN to obtain a mechanically and chemically recyclable advanced lightweight material with good thermal and mechanical properties. The study was conducted on films produced by solvent casting, cured by UV lamp (Thorlabs UV lamp, λ = 365 nm) and thermally post-cured in the oven. The materials’ thermal stability and transitions were studied using TGA, DSC and DMA analysis (TA Instruments, TGAQ500, DSCQ2000, DMAQ800). Solubility tests in dichloromethane were conducted to verify chemical stability. SEM and SAXs characterizations were performed to investigate the organization of the two phases at microscopic and nanoscopic scales. The material’s recyclability was assessed through mechanical reprocessing and chemical component separation tests. The results show that it is possible to produce such films and that their thermo-mechanical properties are related to their composition. Furthermore, the systems obtained are mechanically reprocessable and the two components can be separated and chemically recycled.
WWSC is a joint research center between KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology and Linköping University. The base is a donation from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The Swedish industry is supporting WWSC via the platform Treesearch.
Contact
Email: conference2025@wwsc.se