Recycling of poly (lactic acid)/silk based bionanocomposites films and its influence on thermal stability, crystallization kinetics, solution and melt rheology.

In this study, the effect of silk nanocrystals (SNCs) on the thermal and rheological properties of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) under repetitive extrusion process is investigated. The presence of SNCs facilitates the crystallization process and delaying the thermal degradation of PLA matrix. This leads to the reduction in cold crystallization peak temperature with lower crystallization half-time and higher growth rate.