Center for Engineering, Modeling, and Applied Social Sciences (CECS), Federal University of ABC (UFABC), Santo André, Brazil.
Department of Mechanic and Energy, State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Resende, CEP 27537-000, Brazil.
Chemosphere. 2021 Apr;269:128708. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128708. Epub 2020 Nov 4.
This work aimed to prepare surfactant modified-PBAT (poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)) sheets with superior properties to increase the PBAT applicability and be a possible solution for plastic disposal environmental problems. Three different surfactant contents (0, 1, 5, and 10 wt%) were investigated, and their effects on PBAT chemical structure, mechanical and morphological properties, wettability, and water absorption were investigated. Modified-PBAT samples showed high hydrogen bond coefficients (0.57) than the pristine PBAT (0.54), indicating an excellent electrostatic interaction between both components and the formation of a rigid hydrogen-bonded network, as confirmed by mechanical tests, where the elastic modulus values for PBAT and PBAT+10% surfactant were 44 and 60 MPa. SEM images and roughness measurements showed changes in PBAT morphology after surfactant addition, improving the roughness and wettability by the voids and polar groups presence, altering the water absorption (WA) behavior. The higher water affinity resulted in high water absorption for PBAT-10%S (17%) compared to the pristine PBAT (2%), which improves hydrolysis tendency, which is the initial step to biodegradation. Biodegradation results indicated that the roughness and WA behavior influenced the biodegradation rate, facilitating hydrolysis and microbial attack, and accelerating modified samples weight loss. Our results suggested developing a material with superior mechanical properties, mainly for PBAT-10%S, that can be applied in several applications, such as packaging and furniture. After discharge, it is not an environmental problem, being a biodegradable material with a green character.
本工作旨在制备具有优异性能的表面活性剂改性-PBAT（聚（丁二酸丁二醇酯-co-对苯二甲酸））片材，以提高 PBAT 的适用性，并为解决塑料处理环境问题提供一种可能的解决方案。研究了三种不同的表面活性剂含量（0、1、5 和 10wt%），并研究了它们对 PBAT 化学结构、力学和形态性能、润湿性和吸水性的影响。改性-PBAT 样品的氢键系数（0.57）高于原始 PBAT（0.54），表明两者之间存在极好的静电相互作用，形成了刚性氢键网络，这通过力学测试得到了证实，其中 PBAT 和 PBAT+10%表面活性剂的弹性模量值分别为 44 和 60MPa。SEM 图像和粗糙度测量表明，表面活性剂添加后 PBAT 的形态发生了变化，通过存在空隙和极性基团提高了粗糙度和润湿性，改变了吸水性（WA）行为。较高的亲水性导致 PBAT-10%S（17%）的吸水率高于原始 PBAT（2%），这提高了水解倾向，这是生物降解的初始步骤。生物降解结果表明，粗糙度和 WA 行为影响生物降解速率，促进水解和微生物攻击，加速了改性样品的失重。我们的结果表明，开发出一种具有优异力学性能的材料是可行的，特别是对于 PBAT-10%S，它可以应用于包装和家具等多个领域。在排放后，它不会成为环境问题，因为它是一种具有绿色特性的可生物降解材料。
