Plantain flour (Musa ssp., group AAB, sub-group clone Harton)/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) blends, containing glycerol as a plasticizer, were prepared by reactive extrusion (REx) in a twin-screw extruder using zirconium octanoate (Zr(Oct)₄) as a catalyst, followed by thermo-compression molding for film development. The films were then characterized in terms of their: infrared (FTIR) spectra, water solubility, thermogravimetric (TGA) curves, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms, and X-ray diffraction (XDR) diffractograms, as well as their microstructural, mechanical and antimicrobial properties in order to 1) compare the effects of PCLs with two different molecular weights (M_w) on the characteristics of the plantain flour/PCL blends, and 2) determine whether using Zr(Oct)₄ in the production of active composite polymer materials improves their properties. The plantain flour/PCL blends were all developed successfully. The higher M_w PCL gave more hydrophobic and thermally stable films with improved mechanical properties. The addition of the Zr(Oct)₄ catalyst to the plantain flour/PCL blends also resulted in films with similar characteristics to those described above, due to the cross-linking of the polymers. In addition, the films containing the catalyst showed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus indicating a dual effect of Zr(Oct)₄, and making it an attractive alternative for the development of active films.

中文翻译：

---

由车前粉/ PCL共混物在辛酸锆的催化反应条件下制备的环保薄膜

含甘油作为增塑剂的车前草面粉（Musa ssp。， AAB组，克隆子组Harton）/聚（ε-己内酯）（PCL）共混物，是通过使用锆在双螺杆挤出机中反应挤出（REx）制备的辛酸（Zr（Oct）₄）作为催化剂，然后进行热压成型以进行薄膜显影。然后根据以下特征对薄膜进行表征：红外（FTIR）光谱，水溶性，热重（TGA）曲线，差示扫描量热（DSC）热谱图和X射线衍射（XDR）衍射图，以及它们的微结构，机械和抗菌性能，以便1）比较两种分子量（M _w）关于车前粉/ PCL混合物的特性，以及2）确定在活性复合聚合物材料的生产中使用Zr（Oct）₄是否可以改善其性能。车前草面粉/ PCL共混物均已成功开发。较高的M _w PCL产生了更多的疏水性和热稳定膜，并具有改善的机械性能。将Zr（Oct）₄催化剂添加到车前草粉/ PCL共混物中，由于聚合物的交联作用，还导致薄膜具有与上述薄膜相似的特性。此外，含有催化剂的薄膜对大肠杆菌O157：H7和金黄色葡萄球菌具有抗菌活性，表明Zr（Oct）具有双重作用₄，并使其成为有源膜开发的有吸引力的替代方案。