Lee Da Hae, Song Yun Ha, Ahn Hee Ju, Lee Jaekyoung, Woo Hee Chul
Department of Chemical Engineering, Pukyong National University, 45 Yongso-ro, Nam-gu, Busan 48513, Republic of Korea.
Molecules. 2024 Oct 11;29(20):4807. doi: 10.3390/molecules29204807.
Biodegradable polymers are getting attention as renewable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics due to their environmental benefits. However, improving their physical properties remains challenging. In this work, biodegradable biopolymers (PVA-PCD) were fabricated by chemically crosslinking petroleum-based polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with biomass-derived cardanol-based polyols (PCD). Biopolymers were characterized using various techniques, including Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and swelling tests. Cardanol, the raw material, was converted into polyols via epoxidation followed by hydroxylation. FT-IR analysis confirmed that PVA-PCD biopolymers were crosslinked between the hydroxyl groups of PVA and PCD and the aldehydes of crosslinker glutaraldehyde (GLU), accompanied by the formation of acetal groups with ether bridges. XRD showed that the crystallinity of crosslinked polymers decreased, indicating that crosslinking occurs disorderly. TGA exhibited that GLU significantly improved the thermal stabilities of PVA and PCD-PVA polymers, as evidenced by increased decomposition temperatures. On the other hand, the effect of PVA/PCD ratios was minor on biopolymers' thermal stabilities. Swelling tests revealed that increased crosslinking density decreased the swelling ratio, suggesting that PVA-PCD biopolymers become more hydrophobic with high brittleness, high strength, and low swelling capacity. In summary, this study demonstrates that PVA-PCD biopolymers fabricated from biomass-derived materials have potential for various applications, such as biodegradable materials and sustainable packaging.
由于其环境效益，可生物降解聚合物作为石油基塑料的可再生替代品正受到关注。然而，改善它们的物理性能仍然具有挑战性。在这项工作中，通过将石油基聚乙烯醇（PVA）与生物质衍生的腰果酚基多元醇（PCD）进行化学交联，制备了可生物降解的生物聚合物（PVA-PCD）。使用包括傅里叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR）、X射线衍射（XRD）、热重分析（TGA）和溶胀测试在内的各种技术对生物聚合物进行了表征。原料腰果酚先经环氧化再经羟基化转化为多元醇。FT-IR分析证实，PVA-PCD生物聚合物在PVA和PCD的羟基与交联剂戊二醛（GLU）的醛基之间发生了交联，同时形成了带有醚桥的缩醛基团。XRD表明交联聚合物的结晶度降低，表明交联是无序发生的。TGA显示，GLU显著提高了PVA和PCD-PVA聚合物的热稳定性，分解温度升高证明了这一点。另一方面，PVA/PCD比例对生物聚合物热稳定性的影响较小。溶胀测试表明，交联密度的增加降低了溶胀率，这表明PVA-PCD生物聚合物变得更疏水，具有高脆性、高强度和低溶胀能力。总之，本研究表明，由生物质衍生材料制备的PVA-PCD生物聚合物在各种应用中具有潜力，如可生物降解材料和可持续包装。
