Jozinović Antun, Kovač Mario, Ocelić Bulatović Vesna, Kučić Grgić Dajana, Miloloža Martina, Šubarić Drago, Ačkar Đurđica
Faculty of Food Technology Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Franje Kuhača 18, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
Faculty of Agriculture and Food Technology, University of Mostar, Biskupa Čule bb, 88000 Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Polymers (Basel). 2024 May 1;16(9):1268. doi: 10.3390/polym16091268.
The improper disposal of plastics is a growing concern due to increasing global environmental problems such as the rise of CO emissions, diminishing petroleum sources, and pollution, which necessitates the research and development of biodegradable materials as an alternative to conventional packaging materials. The purpose of this research was to analyse the properties of biodegradable polymer blends of thermoplastic potato starch (TPS) and polylactide, (PLA) without and with the addition of citric acid (CA) as a potential compatibilizer and plasticizer. The prepared blends were subjected to a comprehensive physicochemical characterization, which included: FTIR-ATR spectroscopy, morphological analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), determination of thermal and mechanical properties by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), water vapour permeability (), as well as biodegradation testing in soil. The obtained results indicate an improvement in adhesion between the TPS and PLA phases due to the addition of citric acid, better homogeneity of the structure, and greater compatibility of the polymer blends, leading to better thermal, mechanical and barrier properties of the studied biodegradable TPS/PLA polymer blends. After conducting the comprehensive research outlined in this paper, it has been determined that the addition of 5 wt.% of citric acid serves as an effective compatibilizer and plasticizer. This supplementation achieves an optimal equilibrium across thermal, mechanical, morphological, and barrier properties, while also promoting material sustainability through biodegradation. In conclusion, it can be stated that the use of thermoplastic starch in TPS/PLA blends accelerates the biodegradation of PLA as a slowly biodegradable polymer. While the addition of citric acid offers significant advantages for TPS/PLA blends, further research is needed to optimize the formulation and processing parameters to achieve the desired balance between mechanical strength, thermal and barrier properties and biodegradability.
由于全球环境问题日益严重，如一氧化碳排放量增加、石油资源减少和污染，塑料的不当处置日益受到关注，这就需要研发可生物降解材料来替代传统包装材料。本研究的目的是分析热塑性马铃薯淀粉（TPS）和聚乳酸（PLA）的可生物降解聚合物共混物的性能，其中不添加和添加柠檬酸（CA）作为潜在的增容剂和增塑剂。对制备的共混物进行了全面的物理化学表征，包括：傅里叶变换红外光谱-衰减全反射光谱（FTIR-ATR）、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）形态分析、差示扫描量热法（DSC）测定热性能和机械性能、水蒸气透过率，以及在土壤中的生物降解测试。所得结果表明，由于添加了柠檬酸，TPS和PLA相之间的粘附性得到改善，结构均匀性更好，聚合物共混物的相容性更高，从而使所研究的可生物降解TPS/PLA聚合物共混物具有更好的热性能、机械性能和阻隔性能。在完成本文所述的全面研究后，已确定添加5 wt.%的柠檬酸可作为有效的增容剂和增塑剂。这种添加在热性能、机械性能、形态性能和阻隔性能方面实现了最佳平衡，同时还通过生物降解促进了材料的可持续性。总之，可以说在TPS/PLA共混物中使用热塑性淀粉可加速PLA这种缓慢生物降解聚合物的生物降解。虽然添加柠檬酸对TPS/PLA共混物具有显著优势，但仍需要进一步研究以优化配方和加工参数，以在机械强度、热性能和阻隔性能以及生物降解性之间实现所需的平衡。
