Abstract: In this work, four thermal conductive fillers (Fe, Cu, Al and Al2O3 powders) were used to prepare the poly (lactic acid) (PLA)-based composites via melt extrusion. Effects of the type and amount of the fillers on the thermal conductivity, solidification kinetics as well as crystallization behavior of the prepared composites were studied. The coefficient of thermal conductivity of the composites increased by 89 % with the addition of 5 wt% fillers. The addition of 10 wt% Al2O3 improved the impact strength by 55 %. No obvious effect of the filler type and content on Shaw hardness was detected. The 2d-Tait equation and P-V-T relationship of PLA were adopted to explore the influence of different fillers on the crystallization kinetics of the PLA composites. It showed that the addition of 5 wt% and 10 wt% fillers could improve the crystallization rate by 83 % and 79 %, respectively. The possible reason was probably due to the limited space (or excessive packing) for crystal growth.

Key words: poly(lactic acid), filler, thermal conductivit, crystallization kinetics