Synthetic Aliphatic Biodegradable Poly(Butylene Succinate)/MWNT Nanocomposite Foams and Their Physical Characteristics

Abstract

Synthetic aliphatic biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) nanocomposites with multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) were investigated to study the effects of the preparation method and MWNTs on physical characteristics of biodegradable polymer nanocomposite foams. PBS nanocomposites were prepared by the solution blending and melt mixing methods. Nanocomposites of PBS/MWNT were also prepared by the SOAM method, where the solution-blended nanocomposites were further mixed in the melt state. The dispersion of MWNTs in the PBS matrix was characterized by FT-Raman spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and field-emission transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM). The mechanical and thermal properties of the PBS nanocomposites were measured using a universal test machine (UTM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Nanocomposite foams with high-density closed cells were prepared by using a chemical blowing agent (CBA) that acted as a cell-nucleating agent. The effects of the foaming conditions and MWNTs on the blowing ratio, cell size distribution, and morphology of the expanded PBS foams were investigated. The effect of the CBA content on the blowing ratio, cell size distribution, and morphology was also investigated.

Mechanical reinforcement of cellulose nanocrystals on biodegradable microcellular foams with melt-compounding process

“…Therefore, besides the polymeric matrix, the filler used in the foamed composites is another critical factor for the structure and properties of the materials. Diverse inorganic and organic fillers have been reported in the preparation of the foamed composites, for instance calcium carbonate (Chen et al 2013), nanosilica (Gong et al 2012), carbon nanofiber , carbon nanotube (Lim et al 2011), clay (Wong et al 2013), montmorillonite (Zhou et al 2014), lignin (Xue et al 2014) and wood fibers (Faruk et al 2007). As a rigid biomass-based nanoparticle, CNC can be expected to be the promising nanofiller to enhance the performance and provide the possible nucleation effect for the foamed composites.…”

Preparation of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate)/halloysite nanotube nanocomposite foams using supercritical CO2 as blowing agent

“…Bahari et al [21] formed PBS foams with cross-linked structures by irradiating the PBS with electron-beam irradiation, and then blends with different chemical blowing agents. Lim et al [22][23][24] mixed PBS with carbon nanofiber, organoclay and multi-walled carbon nanotube, respectively, and then studied the effects of the processing methods, nanofiller content and foaming conditions on the cell morphology of the expanded PBS foams. The cell morphology observations exhibited that a small amount of nanofillers could increase the cell density.…”

Preparation and Characterization of Composites Based on Poly (Butylene Succinate) and Poly (Lactic Acid) Grafted Tetracalcium Phosphate

“…Their popularity in the biomedical field stems from their superior nontoxicity, flexibility, hydrophilicity, and biocompatibility properties. [1][2][3][4] Aliphatic polyesters, such as poly(but-2-ene-1,4-diyl malonate) (PBM), [5] poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), [6,7] poly(lactic acid), [8] poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA), [9] poly (ε-caprolactone)-poly (ethyleneglycol)-poly (ε-caprolactone)(PCEC) [10], and poly-(hydroxylalkanoates) (PHA) [11] are important members of the biodegradable polymers that are used extensively in bone tissue engineering due to the fact that they allow bone cells to move in and support their attachment to the construct concurrently without the potential chronic problems associated with the presence of biostable implants. [12][13][14] As a biodegradable aliphatic thermoplastic polyester, PBS, synthesized through the condensation polymerization of 1,4-butane diol and succinic acid, [15,16] has attracted much interest in bone tissue engineering because of its excellent processability, [17] mechanical properties, [18] and harmless degradation products (CO 2 and H 2 O).…”