Environmentally friendly biocomposites based on waste of the dairy industry and poly(vinyl alcohol)

Abstract

Environmentally friendly polymeric biocomposites based on whey powder, a waste material of the dairy industry, and fully or partially hydrolyzed poly (vinyl alcohol) were prepared and characterized with optical microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and stress-strain analysis, and their biodegradation was evaluated with the modified Zahn-Wellens method and the spectrophotometric determination of poly(vinyl alcohol). In addition, the ability of the biocomposites to absorb moisture and its consequent influence on the mechanical properties were investigated under different storage conditions. The structural differences of the two types of poly(vinyl alcohol) matrices had a significant effect on all the mentioned characteristics. Possible molecular interactions between the polymer matrix and modifier, due to hydrogen bonding, were also examined. First-order kinetics were applied for the biodegradation data. The two-phase character of the biodegradation was shown. The results indicated that whey powder is suitable for the modification of polymers, and this is important for the production of biodegradable polymer materials and the consequent reduction of the environmental load.

Effects of jackfruit waste flour on the properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) film

“…Various biodegradable polymers have been synthesized which show the capability to be degraded by certain microorganisms and enzymes [1–4]. According to Briassoulis [5] and Sedlarik et al [6], the biodegradable polymers can be separated into three categories. The first category includes natural biodegradable polymers (polysaccharides, starch, cellulose, chitosan, and alginic acid), whereas a second category consists of polymers with hydrolyzable backbones (polyester, polycaprolactone, and polyanhydrides).…”

“…Among the biodegradable polymers, PVOH has attracted the interest of researchers for plastic packaging applications because of its availability and good mechanical properties [6, 7]. In addition to that, PVOH is water‐soluble and also has thermoplasticity [8], thus allowing for film production by using a solution casting method.…”

“…As a result, there is growing interest for the researcher in adopting the waste material for combination with biodegradable polymeric material. A number of studies have been reported on the uses of waste from organic industry [6, 12, 13] and also inorganic industry [14] for the preparation of low‐cost biodegradable polymers.…”

Flexible polyvinyl alcohol/2-hydroxypropanoic acid films: effect of residual acetyl moieties on mechanical, thermal and antibacterial properties

“…Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been intensively studied due to its transparency, toughness, biodegradability, biocompatibility, chemical resistance and non-toxicity [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. The chemical modification of PVA represents a remarkable means to obtain materials with desirable properties, as hydroxyl groups prove convenient in terms of reactions with many reagents.…”

Preparation and Study of some Electrical Properties of PVA-Ni(NO₃)₂ Composites

“…It is also resistant to oil, grease and solvent. PVA is odorless and nontoxic, as well as has high oxygen and aroma barrier properties [3].…”