A biaxially oriented laminate film including a first amorphous polylactic acid polymer heat sealable polymer layer, a second core layer including a blend of crystalline polylactic acid polymer, and 2-10 wt% of the core layer of an ethylene-acrylate copolymer, has been developed by researchers from Toray. The laminate film, exhibiting the property to be transverse oriented in excess of 6 times its original width (8-10 times its original width) with excellent operability and relatively low haze is obtained with this development. This invention has obtained patent and has a multi-layer biaxially oriented polylactic acid (BOPLA) film with a novel formulation that exhibits significantly improved ability to stretch in the transverse direction in a biaxial orientation process. PLA has specially designed a processing aid in small proportion which helps in better orientation on BOPP stenter processing equipment without additional capital investment in a big way. The methods could produce BOPLA film at transverse direction orientation rates near or the same as BOPP transverse orientation rates so as to improve the productivity of BOPLA film production and allow for the utilization of BOPP film making processing equipment without substantial changes to the equipment.
This multi-layer laminate film includes a first layer of a heat sealable polymer including an amorphous PLA and a second layer of a crystalline PLA containing blend on one side of sealable amorphous PLA layer. This second crystalline PLA containing blend layer may be considered a core or base layer to provide the bulk strength of the laminate film. The second PLA core layer includes a blend of crystalline PLA homopolymer combined with an amount of ethylene-acrylate copolymer that acts as a processing aid to enable high transverse orientation rates of 8-11 times. The second PLA core layer may also include an optional amount of amorphous PLA blended with the crystalline PLA and the ethylene-methacrylate copolymer. The first heat sealable layer includes an amorphous PLA which provides heat sealable properties to the laminate and also may include various additives such as antiblock particles to allow for easier film handling. Furthermore, the laminate may further include a third PLA polymer containing layer on the second PLA polymer containing core layer opposite the side with the amorphous PLA sealable layer for use as a printing layer or metal receiving layer or coating receiving layer. This third layer of this laminate can include an amorphous PLA, a crystalline PLA, or their blends.
Biaxially oriented PLA sheet is commercial in applications like prepaid phone cards and gift cards and hotel key cards, where it replaces PVC. Sheet for such cards is made by Biax International Inc., Tiverton, Ont., and Treofan Group in Raunheim, Germany. PLA is a high-clarity bio-polyester derived from fermented corn starch. NatureWorks makes 19 grades. Pilot-plant quantities are also made by Mitsui Chemical and Shimadzu Chemical in Japan and Tate & Lyle Biopolymers bv in the Netherlands. Another small producer, Galactic SA in Belgium, works with a Chinese partner. Purac in the Netherlands is a lactic acid producer that blends different isomers of PLA to produce specialty grades such as Purasorb medical resins and high-heat grades for microwave or hot-fill packaging.