Development and Characterization of Commercial Biodegradable Film from PLA and Corn Starch for Fresh Produce Packaging

Modern Biodegradable Plastics—Processing and Properties: Part I

“…However, a very wide endothermic peak of TPS melting (T m at about 124 • C) was superimposed on the LDPE melting peak (T m at slightly below 120 • C). The similar values of T m for the starch-based materials were provided by other researchers [40,48,53]. The DSC curves plotted for the second heating cycle of the biodegradable plastics show much lower endothermic peaks than in the first heating cycle.…”

“…Addition of PBS to a polymer (like PLA) increases the degree of crystallinity and flexibility without reducing biodegradability [20,21]. The presence of pure PLA component in the bioplastic was supported by its determined T g (at around 61-65 • C in amorphous D-lactide isomer) and T m at approximately 147 • C (for partially crystalline L-lactide isomer) [19,21,48,[63][64][65]. For the first heating cycle of PLA, the DSC curve revealed glass transition of LDPE, PBS and PLA (in this order), followed by melting of LDPE and PBS (T m at about 121 • C), and finally, melting of PLA.…”

“…Whereas, the FTIR spectra for TPS-C and TPS-P revealed that water was present in the plastics. Aside from water, the plastics could release plasticizers (if any) at the onset of thermal decomposition [23,39,48]. The determined T max values of the tested plastics were represented in reference literature.…”

“…The determined T max values of the tested plastics were represented in reference literature. The references concerning thermal decomposition of PLA specify that the maximum decomposition rate of the material is between 266 and 376 • C [24,25,48], depending on the quantity of the isomers suitable for the process. For starch-based materials, thermal decomposition of starch begins already at 300 • C [23].…”

“…Because of this, polymer blends with starch are used for production of packaging materials. Starch is used with other biopolymers (e.g., PLA or PCPA) [48,49] or petroleum-derived plastics (LDPE or LLDPE); in the latter case, a compatibilizer (a.k.a. coupling agent) is required due to differences in affinity to water between both components [50][51][52][53].…”