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Mazidi MM, Arezoumand S, Zare L. Research progress in fully biorenewable tough blends of polylactide and green plasticizers. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 279:135345. [PMID: 39244110 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.135345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2024] [Revised: 08/21/2024] [Accepted: 09/03/2024] [Indexed: 09/09/2024]
Abstract
Plasticized PLA plastic films are being increasingly used in, among others, packaging and agriculture sectors in an attempt to address the rapid growth of municipal waste. The present paper aims to review the recent progress and the state-of-the-art in the field of fully bio-renewable tough blends of PLA with green plasticizers aimed at developing flexible packaging films. The different classes of green substances, derived from completely bio-renewable resources, used as potential plasticizers for PLA resins are reviewed. The effectiveness of these additives for PLA plasticization is discussed by describing their effects on different properties of PLA. The performance of these blends is primarily determined by the solvent power, compatibility, efficiency, and permanence of plasticizer present in the PLA matrix of resulting films. The various chemical modification strategies employed to tailor the phase interactions, dispersion level and morphology, plasticization efficiency, and permanence, including functionalization, oligomerization, polymerization and self-crosslinking, grafting and copolymerization, and dynamic vulcanization are demonstrated. Sometimes a third component has also been added to the plasticized binary blends as compatibilizer to further promote dispersion and interfacial adhesion. The impact of chemical structure, size and molecular weight, chemical functionalities, polarity, concentration, topology as well as molecular architectures of the plasticizers on the plasticizer performance and the overall characteristics of resulting plasticized PLA materials is discussed. The morphological features and toughening mechanisms for PLA/plasticizer blends are also presented. The different green liquids employed show varying degree of plasticization. Some are more useful for semi-rigid applications, while some others can be used for very flexible products. There is an optimum level of plasticizer in PLA matrices above which the tensile ductility deteriorates. Esters-derivatives of bio-based plasticizers have been shown to be very promising additives for PLA modification. Some plasticizers impart additional functions such as antioxidation and antibacterial activity to the resulting PLA materials, or compatibilization in PLA-based blends. While the primary objective of plasticization is to boost the processability, flexibility, and toughness over wider practical conditions, the bio-degradability, permeability and long-term stability of microstructure (and thereby properties) of the plasticized films against light, weathering, thermal aging, and oxidation deserve further investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Majid Mehrabi Mazidi
- Faculty of Polymer Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Sahand New Town, Tabriz 51335-1996, Iran.
| | - Sahar Arezoumand
- Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Tehran, Kish International Campus, Kish Island, Iran
| | - Leila Zare
- Faculty of Polymer and Chemistry Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Fasa 7461195531, Iran
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Zhang X, Ji G, Gao M, Huang J, Li T, Wang Y, Wang S, Dong W. Designing Strong, Tough, Fluorescent, and UV-Shielding PLA Materials by Incorporating a Phenolic Compound-Based Multifunctional Modifier. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:17268-17278. [PMID: 36961886 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c01293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The realization of high stiffness, high extensibility, and multi-functions for polylactic acid (PLA) is a vital issue for its practical applications. Herein, hydroxyalkylated tannin acid (mTA), a phenolic compound-based modifier with plentiful flat aromatic structures and flexible isopropanol oligomers, is designed and fabricated to act as the multifunctional modifier for PLA. The mTA exhibits the capability of emitting fluorescence and blocking UV light due to the combination of flat aromatic structures and plentiful flexible chains. Besides, mTA with high grafting degree (h-mTA) shows an excellent compatibility to PLA due to the hydrogen bonding interface and the high affinity of grafted isopropanol oligomers to PLA. As a result, the as-prepared PLA/h-mTA20 composite exhibits a strikingly improved extensibility by 61.2 times while maintaining the high yield strength of PLA. Moreover, PLA/h-mTA can serve as a fluorescent material with multi-mode responsiveness as well as a UV-shielding material with high transparency. We envision that this work opens a novel yet facile way to prepare a strong, tough, and multifunctional PLA material with expanded application scopes and will promote the practical applications of phenolic compounds in polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuhui Zhang
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Guangyao Ji
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Mengying Gao
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Jing Huang
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Ting Li
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Yang Wang
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Shibo Wang
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Weifu Dong
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
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Use of Ricinus communis shredded material as filler in rotational molded parts to improve the bio-disintegration behavior. Polym Bull (Berl) 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00289-022-04593-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThis paper focuses on the use of castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) as filler in rotomolded parts using polyethylene (PE) and polylactic acid (PLA) as polymer matrixes. The vegetable shredded material was used in 5 and 10% weight following a dry blending procedure and then rotomolded to obtain cube test parts. This material was characterized to determine its chemical composition, thermal stability, and structure. The NaOH-treated material shows reduced hemicellulose content and higher thermal stability. Obtained composite materials were characterized in terms of mechanical (tensile, flexural, and impact) and thermal properties, morphology, and bio-disintegration behavior. The use of Ricinus as filler in rotomolded PE composite decreases, in general terms, mechanical properties of neat PE, while no significant changes in thermal or bio-disintegration properties are found. On the contrary, PLA composites show higher tensile strength and similar Young's modulus than the matrix, although with reduced flexural and impact properties. Alkali-treated Ricinus material produces parts with higher porosity and thus, lower mechanical properties than composites with untreated material. Finally, the incorporation of this vegetal material modifies to a great extent the thermal properties of the PLA matrix. The bio-disintegration rate increases due to the use of fibers, probably because of the higher moisture absorption of composites.
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Crystallization Behavior of Poly(ε-Caprolactone)-Hollow Glass Microspheres Composites for Rotational Molding Technology. Polymers (Basel) 2022; 14:polym14204326. [PMID: 36297902 PMCID: PMC9609941 DOI: 10.3390/polym14204326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Composites suitable for rotational molding technology based on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and filled with hollow glass microspheres (HGM) or functionalized hollow glass microspheres (HGMf) were prepared via melt-compounding. The functionalization of glass microspheres was carried out by a silanization treatment in order to improve the compatibility between the inorganic particles and the polymer matrix and achieve a good dispersion of glass microspheres in the matrix and an enhanced filler-polymer adhesion. The crystallization behavior of materials was studied by DSC under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions and the nucleating effect of the glass microspheres was proven. In particular, the presence of silanized glass microspheres promoted faster crystallization rates and higher nucleation activity, which are enhanced by 75% and 50%, respectively, comparing neat PCL and the composite filled with 20 wt% HGMf. The crystalline and supermolecular structure of PCL and composites crystallized from the melt was evaluated by WAXD and SAXS, highlighting differences in terms of crystallinity index and structural parameters as a function of the adopted crystallization conditions.
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Ferrari F, Esposito Corcione C, Montagna F, Maffezzoli A. 3D Printing of Polymer Waste for Improving People's Awareness about Marine Litter. Polymers (Basel) 2020; 12:polym12081738. [PMID: 32759642 PMCID: PMC7464207 DOI: 10.3390/polym12081738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 07/31/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
This work is aimed at proposing demonstrative actions devoted to show reprocessing and recyclability of PET originating from bottles collected from the seaside, in order to increase the consumer awareness on the importance of recycling plastics. To this purpose, collected bottles were washed, cut, grinded, extruded in the form of a thin wire adopting different cooling rates, which leads to a modulation of the crystallinity content. Once having optimized the processing parameters, the extruded wire was used to produce 3D printed samples through the fused deposition modelling (FDM). The changes in the crystalline structure due to the different processing conditions were assessed by DSC and XRD analyses, while rheological tests were performed in order to evaluate any modification in the viscosity of PET after repeated processing cycles. The reduction in thermal stability was confirmed by TGA analysis, which showed a progressive decrease in the degradation temperature as processing cycles increased. Finally, tensile tests highlighted the difference in the mechanical response due to the predominance of the crystalline or amorphous phase in the tested sample. In particular, a good mechanical behavior was found for the 3D-printed samples.
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Gazzotti S, Ortenzi MA, Farina H, Disimino M, Silvani A. Carvacrol- and Cardanol-Containing 1,3-Dioxolan-4-ones as Comonomers for the Synthesis of Functional Polylactide-Based Materials. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Gazzotti
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
- CRC Materiali Polimerici “LaMPo”, Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Marco Aldo Ortenzi
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
- CRC Materiali Polimerici “LaMPo”, Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Hermes Farina
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
- CRC Materiali Polimerici “LaMPo”, Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Mariapina Disimino
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
- CRC Materiali Polimerici “LaMPo”, Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Alessandra Silvani
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
- CRC Materiali Polimerici “LaMPo”, Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy
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