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Biodegradable Nanocomposites Developed from PLA/PCL Blends and Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles: Study on the Microstructure, Thermal Behavior, Crystallinity and Performance

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Abstract

Recently, the use of natural materials has grown in the plastics industry. In this study, novel bio-nanocomposites were developed from poly(lactic acid)/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PLA/PCL) blends and silk fibroin nanoparticles (SFNP). SFNP were successfully synthesized from silk fibroin (SF) and analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The obtained results revealed that the well-ordered structures in SF were changed to the amorphous structures in SFNP. Then (PLA/PCL) blends containing 10–30% of PCL were prepared and characterized. According to the obtained results, the PLA/PCL (70/30) blend was selected as the optimized sample for further studies. The scanning electron microscopy results illustrated that the addition of 1% of SFNP into this blend improved the compatibility between PLA and PCL and reduced the PCL droplet sizes from 1.170 ± 92 to 794 ± 46 nm. The results from TGA analysis indicated that the presence of SFNP enhanced the thermal stability of materials at high temperatures. The crystallization kinetics results revealed that while SFNP promoted the crystallization of neat PLA, the crystallization rate of PLA/PCL blend was decreased upon the incorporation of nanofiller. Furthermore, the PLA/PCL/SFNP exhibited higher microhardness and barrier properties than the neat blend. The results suggest that the developed bio-nanocomposites are promising materials for demanding applications such as food packaging.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Perstorp Co. Ltd., Sweden, for supplying the PCL Capa™ 6800, MINECO-Spain (Project CTM2017-88989-P) and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Project UPM RP 160543006). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 860407 BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mahshahr Campus, Amirkabir University of Technology, P.O. Box 63517-13178, Mahshahr, Iran

    Masoud Dadras Chomachayi

  2. Department of Polymer Engineering & Color Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4413, Tehran, Iran

    Azam Jalali-arani

  3. Departamento de Ingeniería Química Industrial y del Medio Ambiente, E.T.S.I. Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Freddys R. Beltrán & Joaquín Martínez Urreaga

  4. Grupo de Investigación “Polímeros: Caracterización y Aplicaciones (POLCA)” (Unidad Asociada ICTP‑CSIC), E.T.S.I. Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Freddys R. Beltrán, Ma Ulagares de la Orden & Joaquín Martínez Urreaga

  5. Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Óptica y Optometría, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Arcos de Jalón 118, 28037, Madrid, Spain

    Ma Ulagares de la Orden

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  1. Masoud Dadras Chomachayi
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  2. Azam Jalali-arani
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  4. Ma Ulagares de la Orden
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  5. Joaquín Martínez Urreaga
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Correspondence to Azam Jalali-arani.

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Dadras Chomachayi, M., Jalali-arani, A., Beltrán, F.R. et al. Biodegradable Nanocomposites Developed from PLA/PCL Blends and Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles: Study on the Microstructure, Thermal Behavior, Crystallinity and Performance. J Polym Environ 28, 1252–1264 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-020-01684-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-020-01684-0

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