Designing Strong, Tough, Fluorescent, and UV-Shielding PLA Materials by Incorporating a Phenolic Compound-Based Multifunctional Modifier

The realization of high stiffness, high extensibility, and multi-functions for polylactic acid (PLA) is a vital issue for its practical applications. Herein, hydroxyalkylated tannin acid (mTA), a phenolic compound-based modifier with plentiful flat aromatic structures and flexible isopropanol oligomers, is designed and fabricated to act as the multifunctional modifier for PLA. The mTA exhibits the capability of emitting fluorescence and blocking UV light due to the combination of flat aromatic structures and plentiful flexible chains. Besides, mTA with high grafting degree (h-mTA) shows an excellent compatibility to PLA due to the hydrogen bonding interface and the high affinity of grafted isopropanol oligomers to PLA. As a result, the as-prepared PLA/h-mTA20 composite exhibits a strikingly improved extensibility by 61.2 times while maintaining the high yield strength of PLA. Moreover, PLA/h-mTA can serve as a fluorescent material with multi-mode responsiveness as well as a UV-shielding material with high transparency. We envision that this work opens a novel yet facile way to prepare a strong, tough, and multifunctional PLA material with expanded application scopes and will promote the practical applications of phenolic compounds in polymers.