Supercritical CO2 processing of polylactic acid films: Effect of process variables and the incorporation of R-carvone on crystalline, thermal, and mechanical properties

In this contribution, a systematic investigation of the effect of the supercritical processing and the incorporation of R-(–)-carvone on the crystalline, thermal, and mechanical properties of polylactic acid films at different temperature (40 °C and 60 °C), CO₂ density (278 kg m⁻³ and 683 kg m⁻³) and depressurization rate (0.6 MPa min⁻¹ and 6.0 MPa min⁻¹) conditions was performed. scCO₂-induced crystallization was observed, up to ∼32 %, and different crystal morphologies were obtained depending on the process variables, affecting the mechanical behavior. Statistical analysis showed that temperature-CO₂ density interaction was the main factor affecting crystalline morphology and the mechanical properties, especially the elastic modulus and elongation. Final properties also depended strongly on the carvone loading, suggesting the occurrence of phase separation above ∼10 wt%. The results obtained here provide useful information for a deeper knowledge of the individual effect of the main process variables and the amount of active compound loaded into the polymer matrix on the film final behavior.