The natural clam shell (CS) has a unique CaCO3‐proteoglycan structure which can be beneficial in improving the strength of materials as a result of the stiff CaCO3 content present in it. Moreover, the existence of active groups such as hydroxyl groups, carboxyl groups, and amino groups in CS can make it possible to form chemical bonds with some functional groups in other materials. In this work, CS which is mostly regarded as waste was utilized to prepare compatible composites via melting process with biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL). Addition of 15 wt % of polyurethane prepolymer as a compatibilizer to a designed weight ratio of 1 to 1 of CS powder and PCL increased the elongation at break of the composite from 9.3 to 536.5%, and also improved the tensile strength from 14.9 to 18.9 MPa. Particularly important was that scanning electron microscopy investigation revealed that the adhesion between the CS and PCL improved significantly as the content of the compatibilizer was increased. This work shows that CS has great potential applications in the area of compatible composites and could serve as an alternative material for reinforcement in polymer composites. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020, 137, 48768.

Developing biodegradable materials as alternative to petroleum based materials is highly desirable due to the problem of plastic pollution and shortage of petroleum‐based energy. In this context, the authors have developed bio‐based polylactic acid‐starch (PLA/St) composite materials with Poly‐1,4‐butylene glycol adipate diol (PBA)‐based polyurethane prepolymer (PBAPU) as a compatibilizer. The fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and other test results show that the compatibility between starch and polylactic acid‐starch (PLA) is improved by using the PBAPU compatibilizer. This is due to the polyurethane bond formed as a result of the reaction between the NCO group in polyurethane prepolymer and the OH group in starch. Furthermore, the structures of the soft segments in polyurethane prepolymer and the polylactic acid matrix which belong to the aliphatic polyesters with similar solubility parameters are also very compatible. The results suggested that a novel interface layer is formed between hydrophobic PLA and hydrophilic starch. Consequently, the ensuing PLA/St composite material exhibit increased interfacial compatibility between polylactic acid and starch, with significant improvements in the thermodynamic as well as the mechanical properties. Certainly, this research has significance in the field of bio‐based plastics, resource utilization, and environmental protection.

It is important to improve the compatibility and ultimately the properties of biobased polymer materials as alternative materials for non-degradable polymer materials. In this study, polyurethane prepolymer (PUP) was synthesized from PCL diols, and the PUP with special structure was used as a compatibilizer to improve the compatibility between hydrophilic soy protein isolate (SPI) and hydrophobic PCL composites. The structure and properties of the soy protein isolatepolycaprolactone (SPI-PCL) composites were investigated. The results showed that the mechanical properties such as the tensile strength, impact strength, and bending strength of the modified composites were increased as compared to un-modified composites, respectively. Also, the SEM results showed that the interfacial adhesion between the hydrophobic PCL and hydrophilic SPI was also enhanced because of the existence of compatible PU interfacial layer in the composites. Clearly, the strong urethane linkage interaction between the PU interfacial layer and the SPI particles, and the PCL-PCL crystallinity interactions between the PU interfacial layer and PCL matrix were responsible for the improved compatibility in the SPI-PCL composites. Therefore, the addition of the PUP with the special structure improved the compatibility and the properties of the SPI-PCL composites significantly. POLYM. COMPOS., 00:000-000,

Wood‐plastic composites (WPCs) are sustainable green material with extensive application prospects in both industry and daily life. So a more convenient, environmentally friendly and effective method is crucial. In this work, WPC was composed by 60 wt% poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) matrix, 10 wt% compatibilizer, and 30 wt% wood flour (WF) through extruder and injection machine. The effects of PBS diol‐based polyurethane prepolymer (PBSPUP) compatibilizer on the structure and properties of WPCs were investigated. Compared with the WF30P70 sample, the tensile strength and the elongation at break of WF30PU10P60 sample had an increase of 52.1% and 125.0%, respectively. And the equilibrium water absorption of WF30PU10P60 was reduced from 4.79% (WF30P70) to 3.57%, the flow properties of WF30PU10P60 were also improved at the same time. Apparently, the composites containing the poly(butylene succinate) diol‐based polyurethane prepolymer (PBSPUP) compatibilizer exhibited improved mechanical properties and thermal performance as shown by the results of scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X‐ray diffraction, water absorption, rheological property analyses, and so on. Toward this end, the special PBSPUP interface structure played an important role in improving the properties of the WPC.

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