Nukala Satya Guha, Kong Ing, Patel Vipulkumar Ishvarbhai, Kakarla Akesh Babu, Kong Wei, Buddrick Oliver
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC 3550, Australia.
Centre for Foundation and General Studies, Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur, Block 11, De Centrum City, Jalan Ikram-Uniten, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia.
Polymers (Basel). 2022 Oct 4;14(19):4169. doi: 10.3390/polym14194169.
The use of biodegradable polymers in daily life is increasing to reduce environmental hazards. In line with this, the present study aimed to develop a fully biodegradable polymer composite that was environmentally friendly and exhibited promising mechanical and thermal properties. Bamboo powder (BP)-reinforced polycaprolactone (PCL) composites were prepared using the solvent casting method. The influence of BP content on the morphology, wettability, and mechanical and thermal properties of the neat matrix was evaluated. In addition, the degradation properties of the composites were analysed through soil burial and acidic degradation tests. It was revealed that BP contents had an evident influence on the properties of the composites. The increase in the BP content has significantly improved the tensile strength of the PCL matrix. A similar trend is observed for thermal stability. Scanning electron micrographs demonstrated uniform dispersion of the BP in the PCL matrix. The degradation tests revealed that the biocomposites with 40 wt·% of BP degraded by more than 20% within 4 weeks in the acidic degradation test and more than 5% in the soil burial degradation test. It was noticed that there was a considerable difference in the degradation between the PCL matrix and the biocomposites of PCL and BP. These results suggest that biodegradable composites could be a promising alternative material to the existing synthetic polymer composites.
在日常生活中，可生物降解聚合物的使用正在增加，以减少环境危害。与此一致，本研究旨在开发一种完全可生物降解的聚合物复合材料，该材料环保且具有良好的机械和热性能。采用溶液浇铸法制备了竹粉（BP）增强聚己内酯（PCL）复合材料。评估了BP含量对纯基体的形态、润湿性以及机械和热性能的影响。此外，通过土壤掩埋和酸性降解试验分析了复合材料的降解性能。结果表明，BP含量对复合材料的性能有明显影响。BP含量的增加显著提高了PCL基体的拉伸强度。热稳定性也呈现类似趋势。扫描电子显微镜照片显示BP在PCL基体中均匀分散。降解试验表明，在酸性降解试验中，含40 wt·% BP的生物复合材料在4周内降解超过20%，在土壤掩埋降解试验中降解超过5%。注意到PCL基体与PCL和BP的生物复合材料之间的降解存在显著差异。这些结果表明，可生物降解复合材料可能是现有合成聚合物复合材料的一种有前途的替代材料。
