Thermoplastic blends of polycaprolactone (PCL) and hydrolyzed collagen (HC) derived from the tannery industry were investigated to assess the feasibility of producing by conventional melting-based procedures biodegradable items for applications in agriculture and plant nurseries. The used HC was obtained by alkaline hydrolysis of the shavings of the tanning process. PCL/HC blends, with 10, 20 and 30 wt.% of HC, were processed by extrusion and compression molding, and characterized in terms of thermal, rheological, morphological and mechanical properties. In view of their possible applications in agriculture, phytotoxicity assays were carried out by using cress (Lepidium sativum L.) germination test and growth analyses of lettuce plants (Lactuca sativa L., cv Canasta), used as reference. Small pots were produced by fused deposition modeling (FDM) and their compostability was evaluated by the standard disintegration test UNI EN ISO 14045. The ultimate aerobic biodegradability of the blends was assessed by the standard UNI EN ISO 14855-1. PCL/HC blends were successfully processed by extrusion providing cohesive and flexible filaments suitable for the FMD 3D-printing. A decrease in the melt viscosity was observed with the addition of HC due to its plasticizing effect. The addition of HC led to a clear decrease of the tensile modulus and, with 30 wt.% HC, a break elongation higher than 600% as pure PCL. Despite the release in water of soluble salts, responsible of a moderate phytotoxicity assessed by L. sativum germination test, PCL/HC blends were not phytotoxic to the lettuce growth. Moreover, PCL/HC blends showed very high biodegradation rates in compost, even higher than cellulose. Composting trial performed under real conditions also confirmed the biodegradability of these blends, showing complete disintegration of the produced 3D printed pots in just 30 days.

研究了制革业衍生的聚己内酯（PCL）和水解胶原（HC）的热塑性共混物，以评估通过传统的基于熔融程序生产可生物降解物品的可行性，以用于农业和植物苗圃。通过鞣制过程中刨花的碱水解获得用过的HC。通过挤出和压缩模塑加工具有10、20和30重量％HC的PCL / HC共混物，并在热，流变，形态和机械性能方面进行表征。鉴于其在农业中的可能应用，通过水芹（Lepidium sativum L.）发芽试验和生菜植物（莴苣（Lactuca sativa）的生长分析）进行了植物毒性试验。L.，cv Canasta），用作参考。小锅通过熔融沉积模型（FDM）生产，其堆肥性通过标准崩解测试UNI EN ISO 14045进行评估。混合物的最终有氧生物降解性通过标准UNI EN ISO 14855-1进行评估。通过挤出成功加工了PCL / HC共混物，提供了适合FMD 3D打印的内聚和柔性长丝。由于HC的增塑作用，观察到熔融粘度的降低。HC的加入导致拉伸模量明显降低，并且当HC为30重量％时，断裂伸长率高于纯PCL的600％。尽管在水中释放出可溶性盐，但仍可导致由L. sativum评估的中度植物毒性发芽试验表明，PCL / HC混合物对莴苣的生长没有植物毒性。此外，PCL / HC混合物在堆肥中的降解率非常高，甚至高于纤维素。在真实条件下进行的堆肥试验也证实了这些混合物的生物降解性，表明所生产的3D打印罐在短短30天内即可完全崩解。