Abstract: PLA based nanocomposites was prepared by solution intercalation with modified talc and ZnO pillared organic saponite. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis suggested that the interlamellar spacing of talc was increased and the surface of talc was coated by KH570. Moreover, the mechanical properties testing showed that when the addition of ZnO pillared organic saponite was 0.3 phr, the tensile strength of PLA based nanocomposites attained 40.3MPa, which was increased by 140.9% compared with that of PLA matrix.Differential scanning calorimetry results displayed that modified talc and ZnO pillared organic saponite performed a hererogeneous nucleation effect and enhanced the crystallinity of PLA matrix, which was in accordance with XRD analysis, and the decomposition temperature of PLA based nanocomposites was increased by 7.07oC compared with that of PLA matrix.

Key words: poly(lactic acid), modified-talc, zinc oxide pillared organic saponite, crystallization