Functionalization of Partially Bio-Based Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) by Blending with Fully Bio-Based Poly(Amide) 10,10 and a Glycidyl Methacrylate-Based Compatibilizer

Abstract

This work shows the potential of binary blends composed of partially bio-based poly(ethyelene terephthalate) (bioPET) and fully bio-based poly(amide) 10,10 (bioPA1010). These blends are manufactured by extrusion and subsequent injection moulding and characterized in terms of mechanical, thermal and thermomechanical properties. To overcome or minimize the immiscibility, a glycidyl methacrylate copolymer, namely poly(styrene-ran-glycidyl methacrylate) (PS-GMA; Xibond™ 920) was used. The addition of 30 wt % bioPA provides increased renewable content up to 50 wt %, but the most interesting aspect is that bioPA contributes to improved toughness and other ductile properties such as elongation at yield. The morphology study revealed a typical immiscible droplet-like structure and the effectiveness of the PS-GMA copolymer was assessed by field emission scanning electron microcopy (FESEM) with a clear decrease in the droplet size due to compatibilization. It is possible to conclude that bioPA1010 can positively contribute to reduce the intrinsic stiffness of bioPET and, in addition, it increases the renewable content of the developed materials.

Evaluation of Different Compatibilization Strategies to Improve the Performance of Injection-Molded Green Composite Pieces Made of Polylactide Reinforced with Short Flaxseed Fibers

“…These additives are generally based on polymers with low molecular weight (Mw), oligomers, or even, more recently, functionalized vegetable oils with several reactive groups that are prone to form chemical bonds during melt processing [48,49]. In this sense, some commercially available copolymers and oligomers based on epoxy, maleic, or glycidyl methacrylate groups have successfully compatibilized biopolyesters and their green composites with lignocellulosic particles [22,[50][51][52]. The present study evaluated and compared the effect of surface treatments and different reactive compatibilizers on the performance of green composites based on PLA and short FFs prepared by twin-screw extrusion (TSE) and injection molding.…”

“…The three tested compatibilizers were added as different parts per hundred resin (phr) of composite. Particularly, PS-co-GMA and ESAO were both added at 1 phr, as this content has reported to enhance the interaction between biopolymers without leading undesired effects such as gel formation [50,59]. The selected MLO content was 5 phr since higher oil loadings could exert a negative effect by saturation [60].…”

“…Furthermore, in the case of the green composite samples processed with ESAO, PS-co-GMA and, even, MLO, this crystallinity restriction can be related to the formation of chain-extended and/or branched structures of PLA with a higher impairment to crystallize [74,89]. Some authors have additionally concluded that this reaction can create cross-linked structures that could lead to difficulties in the chains mobility and, hence, cold crystallization is delayed [50,74,90]. In the case of the PLA/FF + MLO piece, showing the highest T cc value, that is, 124.5 • C, the newly formed spherical-shape phases dispersed in the PLA matrix could further contribute to delay crystallization of PLA.…”

Development of Blends to Improve Flexibility of Biodegradable Polymers

“…In contrast, biobased polymers with the same chemical structures as conventional polymers, such as bioPE, bioPP, and bioPET, also share the same mechanical and thermal behaviours. These biopolymers differ in the origin of the components out of which they are synthesised, as they come from renewable sources instead of oil [ 1 , 4 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Manufacturing and compatibilization of binary blends of polyethylene and poly(bulylene succinate) by injection molding

“…BioPE is a polymer that is synthesized from ethylene monomer derived from the dehydration of bioethanol obtained from the glucose of different biological raw materials such as sugar cane, sugar beet, corn or wheat starch, and lignocellulosic materials (Tsiropoulos et al, 2015). This material can reach up to 95% biobased content, which makes it more environmentally friendly than petroleum-based polyethylene (Jorda et al, 2019). Furthermore, CO 2 emissions from petrochemical PE are estimated to be 2.1 tonnes per tonne of polymer whereas for BioPE the emissions are -2.5 tonnes of CO 2 , indicating that it binds carbon, thus reducing CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere and the environmental impact compared to its petroleum-based counterpart (Garcia-Garcia, Carbonell-Verdu, Jordá-Vilaplana, Balart, & Garcia-Sanoguera, 2016;Samper-Madrigal, Fenollar, Dominici, Balart, & Kenny, 2015).…”