Evaluation of the Effect of Castor Oil-Based Experimental Additives on Pla/Starch Foils

Abstract

Biodegradable packaging materials are attracting more and more interest nowadays, the primary driving force of which is the generation of enormous amounts of plastic packaging waste. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two castor oil-based experimental additives on the properties of foils made from incompatible biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) and native starch (10-50 wt%). Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) measurements and tensile tests were used. It was found that increasing the starch content affected the crystallization of PLA in the blends. Furthermore, since the additives did not significantly change the glass transition temperatures, the additives did not affect the mobility of PLA chains. Regarding the tensile tests, the tensile strength of the 60:40 PLA:starch longitudinal sample could be increased by approximately 10 and 6 MPa at 25 and -25 °C, respectively, when additives were introduced.