Physical Aging as the Driving Force for Brittle–Ductile Transition of Polylactic Acid

Abstract Polylactic acid (PLA) is an inherently brittle polymer, exhibiting a high Young's modulus and minimal elongation‐at‐break. To transition its failure mode to one that is much more ductile without loss in strength is challenging. A new strategy combining physical aging with ultraviolet (UV) radiation is carried out to reach the desired mechanical properties of PLA. Characterization of the modified resin is done by mechanical, …