Preparation and characterization of polystyrene/starch blends for packaging applications

Abstract

Polystyrene/thermoplastic starch blends from 90/10 to 50/50 (w/w) were prepared by melt blending. Blends were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (morphology); thermogravimetric analysis (thermal stability and weight content of each component); Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (identification of functional groups); differential scanning calorimetry (thermal properties); tensile tests (strength, modulus, elongation at break and tenacity) and biodegradation in soil (biodegradability). The biodegradation process was also followed by thermogravimetric analysis calculating the loss of each component after removing the samples from soil at different time intervals. Scanning electron microscopy results showed good starch dispersion in the blend. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis suggested that only physical interaction took place between the polystyrene and the thermoplastic starch. The tensile tests revealed a considerable decrease in the mechanical properties of the polystyrene-thermoplastic starch blends as a function of the thermoplastic starch content. The 50/50 blend showed decreases of 48% in the Young's modulus, 62% in the tensile strength and increases of 62% in the elongation at break, in comparison to neat polystyrene. The biodegradability tests showed that the greater the thermoplastic starch concentration in the blend, the faster the mass loss, which was also Composite Materials Group (CoMP),

Biodegradable nanocomposites based on starch/polycaprolactone/compatibilizer ternary blends reinforced with natural and organo‐modified montmorillonite

“…Standard deviations for these measurements were below 0.3% for all materials. In previous works we found that 70 wt % of neat TPS is biodegraded after 7 days of biodegradation in soil. In this article, the TPS loss after 40 days of biodegradation was in the range of 30–70% depending of the type of nanoclay in the blend.…”

“…In the case of the uncompatibilized specimens, an increase in water absorption after clay incorporation was observed. On the other hand, a clear trend of water absorption as a function of clay modification or clay content was not observed, probably because of TPS dissolution or leaching in the water during the test …”

Thermal Response and Degressive Reaction Study of Oxo-Biodegradable Plastic Products Exposed to Various Degradation Media

“…International Journal of Polymer Science loss W loss , % were estimated for the test specimens as per the following [35]:…”

Effect of the reduced-graphene oxide on the structure and thermal properties of compoiste PMMA/micro-cellulose fibers from petioles of Vietnamese nipa palm tree

“…Tuy nhiên giá thành của các loại polymer này tương đối cao và khả năng ứng dụng còn thấp. Một hướng nghiên cứu khác là sử dụng các nguồn polymer thiên nhiên như tinh bột, cellulose, chitosan… [3] đưa vào các pha nền polymer thông dụng như PE, PP [4], PS [5,6], PMMA [7]... để góp phần cải thiện khả năng phân hủy bảo vệ môi trường của các polymer này thì trở nên phổ biến hơn.…”