Novel Sustainable Composites Based on Poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) and Seagrass Beach-CAST Fibers: Performance and Degradability in Marine Environments

Materials
Maurizia SeggianiAndrea Lazzeri

Abstract

In order to produce sustainable, bio-based and highly biodegradable materials, composites based on poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and fibers of Posidonia oceanica (PO), a dominant Mediterranean seagrass, were produced by simple melt mixing and characterized in terms of thermal stability, morphology and rheological/mechanical properties. In view of their potential application in marine environments, degradation of the developed composites was evaluated under simulated and real marine environmental conditions for 1 year. Using 10 wt % of acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC) as a plasticizer, smooth processing was achieved for up to 30 wt % of PO fibers, despite the reduction of the melt fluidity observed with increasing fiber loading. The tensile modulus slightly increased (from 2 to 2.4 GPa) while the tensile strength and the elongation decreased (from 23.6 to 21.5 MPa and from 3.2 to 1.9%, respectively) by increasing the PO fiber content from 0 to 30 wt %. Interestingly, the impact resistance of the composites increased with the increasing of the PO content: the Charpy’s impact energy increased from 3.6 (without fiber) to 4.4 kJ/m² for the composite with 30 wt %. The results of the aerobic biodegradation under ...Continue Reading

References

Jul 29, 2003·Biotechnology Letters·Kshama Lakshman, Tumkur Ramachandriah Shamala
Oct 7, 2004·Macromolecular Bioscience·Emo ChielliniSyed H Imam
Sep 26, 2014·Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry·Marina Patricia ArrietaMaría Victoria González-Rodríguez
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Jul 6, 2017·The Science of the Total Environment·Elena BalestriClaudio Lardicci

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Citations

Apr 10, 2020·Journal of Functional Biomaterials·Maria-Beatrice ColtelliGiovanna Donnarumma
Mar 1, 2019·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Laura AliottaAndrea Lazzeri
Mar 6, 2019·Scientific Reports·Randa R ElmorsiKhaled S Abou-El-Sherbini
Jan 16, 2019·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Patrizia CinelliAndrea Lazzeri

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