Abstract

Biodegradable polymeric blends have been widely studied due to their potential of reducing pollution caused by non-biodegradable materials. The research described here describes a polymer blend that benefits both from the abundance of arrowroot starch (AS) and the good mechanical properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Glycerol (GLY) was used in different proportions as a plasticizer. The addition of GLY improved the mechanical properties of the blends, increasing the elongation at break up to 667%. On the other hand, the GLY addition adversely affected other properties, increasing the water vapor permeability (WVP), solubility and hydrophilic characteristics and reducing the thermal stability and the crystallinity index. The AS/PVA blend without GLY addition showed better physical-chemical properties, having strong chemical interaction between the two kinds of polymeric chains (according FTIR analysis) and a homogeneous morphology (SEM morphological analysis). In general, decreasing the AS content improved the mechanical and WVP properties, the film becoming less hydrophilic. In conclusion, the AS/PVA blends cast films, with or without GLY, are biodegradable materials suitable for packaging applications.

摘要

可生物降解的聚合物共混物因其减少不可生物降解材料造成的污染的潜力而被广泛研究。此处描述的研究描述了一种聚合物混合物，它受益于丰富的竹芋淀粉 (AS) 和聚乙烯醇 (PVA) 的良好机械性能。甘油（GLY）以不同的比例用作增塑剂。GLY 的添加改善了共混物的机械性能，将断裂伸长率提高到 667%。另一方面，GLY 的添加对其他性能产生不利影响，增加了水蒸气渗透率 (WVP)、溶解性和亲水特性，并降低了热稳定性和结晶度指数。不添加 GLY 的 AS/PVA 混合物表现出更好的物理化学性质，两种聚合物链之间具有很强的化学相互作用（根据 FTIR 分析）和均匀的形态（SEM 形态分析）。一般来说，降低 AS 含量会改善机械和 WVP 性能，薄膜变得不那么亲水。总之，AS/PVA 共混流延薄膜，无论是否含有 GLY，都是适用于包装应用的可生物降解材料。