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Darie-Niță RN, Irimia A, Grigoraș VC, Mustață F, Tudorachi N, Râpă M, Ludwiczak J, Iwanczuk A. Evaluation of Natural and Modified Castor Oil Incorporation on the Melt Processing and Physico-Chemical Properties of Polylactic Acid. Polymers (Basel) 2022; 14:polym14173608. [PMID: 36080683 PMCID: PMC9460240 DOI: 10.3390/polym14173608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Revised: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Bio-based plasticizers derived from renewable resources represent a sustainable replacement for petrochemical-based plasticizers. Vegetable oils are widely available, non-toxic and biodegradable, resistant to evaporation, mostly colorless and stable to light and heat, and are a suitable alternative for phthalate plasticizers. Plasticized poly(lactic acid) (PLA) materials containing 5 wt%, 10 wt%, 15 wt% and 20 wt% natural castor oil (R) were prepared by melt blending to improve the ductility of PLA. Three castor oil adducts with maleic anhydride (MA), methyl nadic anhydride (methyl-5-norbornene-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride) (NA) and hexahydro-4-methylphthalic anhydride (HA), previously synthesized, were incorporated in a concentration of 15 wt% each in PLA and compared with PLA plasticized with natural R. The physico-chemical properties of PLA/R blends were investigated by means of processability, chemical structure, surface wettability, mechanical, rheological and thermal characteristics. The addition of natural and modified R significantly improved the melt processing by decreasing the melt viscosity by ~95%, increased the surface hydrophobicity, enhanced the flexibility by ~14 times in the case of PLA/20R blend and ~11 times in the case of PLA/15R-MA blend as compared with neat PLA. The TG/DTG results showed that the natural R used up to 20 wt% could significantly improve the thermal stability of PLA, similar to the maleic anhydride-modified R. Based on the obtained results, up to 20 wt% natural R and 15 wt% MA-, HA- or NA-modified R might be used as environmentally friendly plasticizers that can improve the overall properties of PLA, depending on the intended food packaging applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raluca Nicoleta Darie-Niță
- Physical Chemistry of Polymers Department, Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania
| | - Anamaria Irimia
- Physical Chemistry of Polymers Department, Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania
| | - Vasile Cristian Grigoraș
- Physical Chemistry of Polymers Department, Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania
| | - Fănică Mustață
- Physical Chemistry of Polymers Department, Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania
| | - Niță Tudorachi
- Natural Polymers, Bioactive and Biocompatible Materials Department, Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania
| | - Maria Râpă
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 313 Splaiul Independentei, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
- Correspondence:
| | - Joanna Ludwiczak
- Faculty of Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology, 50-013 Wrocław, Poland
| | - Andrzej Iwanczuk
- Faculty of Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology, 50-013 Wrocław, Poland
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Bheemaneni G, Kandaswamy R. Melt processing and characterization of tricalcium phosphate filled polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate/polymethyl methacrylate composites for biomedical applications. INT J POLYM MATER PO 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/00914037.2018.1525731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Girija Bheemaneni
- Department of Rubber and Plastics Technology, MIT Campus, Anna University, Chennai, India
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