Innovative Bio-based Poly(Lactic Acid)/Poly(Alkylene Furanoate)s Fiber Blends for Sustainable Textile Applications

This work aims at producing and investigating, for the first time, the microstructural and thermo-mechanical properties of fibers constituted by poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(alkylene furanoate)s (PAFs) blends for textile applications. Two different PAFs have been investigated, i.e., poly(octylene furanoate) (P8F) and poly(dodecylene furanoate) (P12F), which have been blended with PLA in different concentrations and spun through a lab-made wet spinning device. The microstructural investigation of the fiber cross-section evidenced domains of PAFs homogeneously dispersed within the PLA matrix. The immiscibility of the produced blends was also suggested by the fact that the glass transition temperature of PLA was unaffected by the presence of PAF. The thermal stability of PLA was not substantially influenced by the PAF content, whereas the water absorption tendency decreased with an increase in P12F fraction. The mechanical properties of PLA/P8F blends decreased with the P8F amount, while for PLA/P12F fiber blends the stiffness and the strength were approximatively constant by increasing the P12F content. The drawing process, performed at 70 °C and with two different draw ratios, brought an interesting increase in the mechanical properties of PLA fibers upon P12F introduction. These promising results constitute the basis for future research on these innovative bio-based fibers.