Color Fixation Strategies on Sustainable Poly-Butylene Succinate Using Biobased Itaconic Acid

Abstract

Biopo-lybutylene succinate (bioPBS) is gaining attention in the biodegradable polymer market due to its promising properties, such as high biodegradability and processing versatility, representing a potential sustainable replacement for fossil-based commodities. However, there is still a need to enhance its properties for certain applications, with aesthetical and mechanical properties being a challenge. The aim of the present work is to improve these properties by adding selected additives that will confer bioPBS with comparable properties to that of current counterparts such as polypropylene (PP) for specific applications in the automotive and household appliances sectors. A total of thirteen materials have been studied and compared, being twelve biocomposites containing combinations of three different additives: a commercial red colorant, itaconic acid (IA) to enhance color fixation and zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles to maintain at least native PBS mechanical properties. The results show that the combination of IA and the coloring agent tends to slightly yellowish the blend due to the absorbance spectra of IA and also to modify the gloss due to the formation of IA nanocrystals that affects light scattering. In addition, for low amounts of IA (4 wt %), Young’s Modulus seems to be kept while elongation at break is even raised. Unexpectedly, a strong aging affect was found after four weeks. IA increases the hydrophilic behavior of the samples and thus seems to accelerate the hydrolization of the matrix, which is accompanied by an accused disaggregation of phases and an overall softening and rigidization effect. The addition of low amounts of ZrO2 (2 wt %) seems to provide the desired effect for hardening the surface while almost not affecting the other properties; however, higher amounts tends to form aggregates saturating the compounds. As a conclusion, IA might be a good candidate for color fixing in biobased polymers.

Artificial Ageing, Chemical Resistance, and Biodegradation of Biocomposites from Poly(Butylene Succinate) and Wheat Bran

“…Whether a surface reflects, scatters, or absorbs light depends on the surface roughness, but also on the heterogeneity of the material and surface. The presence of the filler, and then also its composition, size, and quality of distribution in the matrix influence the increase of randomness of light reflection directions and decrease of gloss values [130,131]. Therefore, the introduction of bran powder, as expected, resulted in a decrease in gloss value.…”

Sustainable Bio-Based Polymers: Towards a Circular Bioeconomy

“…The valorization of biomass from different renewable resources (i.e., agriculture, food, forestry, fishery, etc.) by green processes to produce multifunctional polymers with potential industrial applications is a smart strategy to substitute non-biodegradable petroleum-based plastics [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. This allows a change of paradigm from a linear economy (“take, make, and dispose”) to a circular bioeconomy where typical plant and animal residues littered as wastes have a second chance and can be re-integrated into the productive cycle, thus reducing their environmental impact.…”

“…This allows a change of paradigm from a linear economy (“take, make, and dispose”) to a circular bioeconomy where typical plant and animal residues littered as wastes have a second chance and can be re-integrated into the productive cycle, thus reducing their environmental impact. In this context, the works published in this Special Issue have addressed such a topic from different perspectives, including bio-based alternatives to petroleum-based polymers [ 3 , 8 , 9 , 12 ], bioplastics for packaging [ 2 , 4 , 10 ] and other industrial uses [ 6 , 7 ], and sustainable food waste management and biorefinery [ 1 , 5 , 11 ].…”

“…In summary, ten papers about the fabrication, characterization, and potential uses of bio-based polymers and composites have been published in this Special Issue [ 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. It also contains two reviews about sustainable substitutes of phenol-formaldehyde resins [ 3 ] and synthetic and non-synthetic materials for packaging and textile uses [ 4 ].…”

“…Quiles et al investigated the formation of aesthetically attractive and mechanically robust PBS-based biocomposites by adding a commercially available red pigment, itaconic acid (IA), to improve color fixation and ZrO 2 nanoparticles to improve the mechanical properties [ 6 ]. IA allowed a good fixation of the pigment, although the samples were yellowish and the gloss was affected due to the optical properties of the dicarboxylic acid.…”