Faculty of Chemistry, Institute of Polymer and Dye Technology, Lodz University of Technology, Stefanowskiego 12/16, 90-924 Lodz, Poland.
Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 171/173, 90-924 Lodz, Poland.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Mar 19;22(6):3150. doi: 10.3390/ijms22063150.
The study aimed to prepare sustainable and degradable elastic blends of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) that were reinforced with flax fiber (FF) and montmorillonite (MMT), simultaneously filling the gap in the literature regarding the PLA-containing polymer blends filled with natural additives. The performed study reveals that FF incorporation into ENR/PLA blend may cause a significant improvement in tensile strength from (10 ± 1) MPa for the reference material to (19 ± 2) MPa for the fibers-filled blend. Additionally, it was found that MMT employment in the role of the filler might contribute to ENR/PLA plasticization and considerably promote the blend elongation up to 600%. This proves the successful creation of the unique and eco-friendly PLA-containing polymer blend exhibiting high elasticity. Moreover, thanks to the performed accelerated thermo-oxidative and ultraviolet (UV) aging, it was established that MMT incorporation may delay the degradation of ENR/PLA blends under the abovementioned conditions. Additionally, mold tests revealed that plant-derived fiber addition might highly enhance the ENR/PLA blend's biodeterioration potential enabling faster and more efficient growth of microorganisms. Therefore, materials presented in this research may become competitive and eco-friendly alternatives to commonly utilized petro-based polymeric products.
本研究旨在制备具有可持续性和可降解性的弹性共混物，该共混物由环氧化天然橡胶（ENR）与聚乳酸（PLA）组成，并用亚麻纤维（FF）和蒙脱土（MMT）增强，同时填补了文献中关于含有天然添加剂的 PLA 聚合物共混物的空白。所进行的研究表明，FF 的加入可能会导致 ENR/PLA 共混物的拉伸强度显著提高，从参考材料的（10±1）MPa 提高到纤维填充共混物的（19±2）MPa。此外，还发现 MMT 作为填料的使用可能有助于 ENR/PLA 的增塑，并显著提高共混物的伸长率至 600%。这证明了成功制备了具有高弹性的独特且环保的 PLA 共混物。此外，通过进行加速热氧化和紫外线（UV）老化，发现 MMT 的加入可能会延迟上述条件下 ENR/PLA 共混物的降解。此外，模具测试表明，植物衍生纤维的添加可能会极大地提高 ENR/PLA 共混物的生物降解潜力，从而使微生物更快、更有效地生长。因此，本研究中提出的材料可能成为具有竞争力且环保的替代传统石油基聚合物产品的选择。
