Film extrusion and welding of biodegradable polymer films are important processes that must be considered in the development of compostable packaging materials. Film extrusion of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has proved to be rather difficult because of its brittleness, but the flexibility of PLA can be improved by incorporation of a plasticizer in the material. PLA was plasticized with triacetine (TAc) and tributyl citrate (TbC). The blended materials and neat PLA were film extruded and the films were welded with constant heat (CH) welding. The films were analyzed by means of gas chromatography (GC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), contact angle measurements, and tensile testing. Storage of the plasticized films resulted in an increased crystallinity and changes in the film properties, rendering CH welding difficult. The welding process had no influence on thermal properties, such as cold crystallization temperature, melting temperature, crystallization temperature, and degree of crystallinity, of neat PLA but caused significant changes in the crystallinity of the plasticized materials.
Many problems with odor and taste in food packaging can be traced to degradation of the packaging materials during processing. From this starting point, the degradation of polyethylene in a commercial extrusion coating process was studied by analyzing degradation products present in smoke sampled at the extruder die orifice. Two low-density polyethylenes, A and B, with similar melt flow indexes and densities and obtained from different producers, were investigated. A third polymer, C, consisting of recycled material B, was also investigated. More than 40 aliphatic aldehydes and ketones, together with 14 different carboxylic acids, were identified in the smoke. The highest concentration was found for acetaldehyde, regardless of polymer and processing conditions. Increasing the extrusion temperatures in the range 280 -325°C increased the amounts of the oxidized products in the smoke. The extruded film thickness, 12 and 25 m, influenced the concentrations of degradation products, with the thicker film giving higher amounts of product. The recycled polymer C generally gave lower concentrations of degradation products compared with the virgin polymer B. Differences in the product spectrum between the two virgin polymers may be related to differences in the manufacturing process. Many of the identified compounds have very characteristic taste and smell and are consequently of interest from an odor and taste point of view in food packaging applications.
Abstract:Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations were performed to calculate solubility, S, and diffusion, D, coefficients of oxygen and water in polyethylene, and to obtain a molecular-level understanding of the diffusion mechanism. The permeation coefficient, P, was calculated from the product of S and D. The AMBER force field, which yields the correct polymer densities under the conditions studied, was used for the simulations, and it was observed that the results were not sensitive to the inclusion of atomic charges in the force field. The simulated S for oxygen and water are higher and lower than experimental data, respectively. The calculated diffusion coefficients are in good agreement with experimental data. Possible reasons for the discrepancy in the simulated and experimental solubilities, which results in discrepancies in the permeation coefficients, are discussed. The diffusion of both penetrants occurs mainly by large amplitude, infrequent jumps of the molecules through the polymer matrix.
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