Material model proposal for biodegradable materials

Sustainable Design of Structural and Functional Polymers for a Circular Economy

To achieve a sustainable circular economy, polymer production must start transitioning to recycled and biobased feedstock and accomplish CO₂ emission neutrality. This is not only true for structural polymers, such as in packaging or engineering applications, but also for functional polymers in liquid formulations, such as adhesives, lubricants, thickeners or dispersants. At their end of life, polymers must be either collected and recycled via a technical pathway, or be biodegradable if they are not collectable. Advances in polymer chemistry and applications, aided by computational material science, open the way to addressing these issues comprehensively by designing for recyclability and biodegradability. This Review explores how scientific progress, together with emerging regulatory frameworks, societal expectations and economic boundary conditions, paint pathways for the transformation towards a circular economy of polymers.

Static Corrosion Test of Porous Iron Material with Polymer Coating

At present biodegradable implants received increased attention due to their use in various fields of medicine. This work is dedicated to testing of biodegradable materials which could be used as bone implants. The samples were prepared from the carbonyl iron powder by replication method and surface polymer film was produced through sol-gel process. Corrosion testing was carried out under static conditions during 12 weeks in Hank’s solution. The quantity of corrosion products increased with prolonging time of static test as it can be concluded from the results of EDX analysis. The degradation of open cell materials with polyethylene glycol coating layer was faster compared to uncoated Fe sample. Also the mass losses were higher for samples with PEG coating. The polymer coating brought about the desired increase in degradation rate of porous iron material.

Testing, characterization and modelling of mechanical behaviour of poly (lactic-acid) and poly (butylene succinate) blends

Background

Significant amount of research, both experimental and numerical, has been conducted to study the mechanical behaviour of biodegradable polymer PL(L)A due to its wide range of applications. However, mechanical brittleness or poor elongation of PL(L)A has limited its applications considerably, particularly in the biomedical field. This study aims to study the potential in improving the ductility of PLA by blending with PBS in varied weight ratios.

Methods

The preparation of PLA and PBS blends, with various weight ratios, was achieved by melting and mixing technique at high temperature using HAAKE™ Rheomix OS Mixer. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was applied to investigate the melting behaviour, crystallization and miscibility of the blends. Small dog-bone specimens, produced by compression moulding, were used to test mechanical properties under uniaxial tension. Moreover, an advanced viscoplastic model with nonlinear hardening variables was applied to simulate rate-dependent plastic deformation of PLA/PBS blends, with model parameters calibrated simultaneously against the tensile test data.

Results

Optical Microscopy showed that PBS composition aid with the crystallization of PLA. The elongation of PLA/PBS blends increased with the increase of PBS content, but with a compromise of tensile modulus and strength. An increase of strain rate led to enhanced stress response, demonstrating the time-dependent deformation nature of the material. Model simulations of time-dependent plastic deformation for PLA/PBS blends compared well with experimental results.

Conclusions

The crystallinity of PLA/PBS blends increased with the addition of PBS content. The brittleness of pure PLA can be improved by blending with ductile PBS using mechanical mixing technique, but with a loss of stiffness and strength. The tensile tests at different strain rates confirmed the time-dependent plastic deformation nature of the blends, i.e., viscoplasticity, which can be simulated by the Chaboche viscoplastic model with nonlinear hardening variables.

Enhancement of Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Polylactic Acid/Polycaprolactone Blends by Hydrophilic Nanoclay

The effects of hydrophilic nanoclay, Nanomer PGV, on mechanical properties of Polylactic Acid (PLA)/Polycaprolactone (PCL) blends were investigated and compared with hydrophobic clay, Montmorillonite K10. The PLA/PCL/clay composites were prepared by melt intercalation technique and the composites were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). FTIR spectra indicated that formation of hydrogen bond between hydrophilic clay with the matrix. XRD results show that shifting of basal spacing when clay incorporated into polymer matrix. TEM micrographs reveal the formation of agglomerate in the composites. Based on mechanical properties results, addition of clay Nanomer PGV significantly enhances the flexibility of PLA/PCL blends about 136.26%. TGA showed that the presence of clay improve thermal stability of blends. DMA show the addition of clay increase storage modulus and the presence of clay Nanomer PGV slightly shift two Tg of blends become closer suggest that the presence of clay slightly compatibilizer the PLA/PCL blends. SEM micrographs revealed that presence of Nanomer PGV in blends influence the miscibility of the blends. The PLA/PCL blends become more homogeneous and consist of single phase morphology.