Enzymatic degradation of plasticized PLA and nano-biocomposites

BURGOS, NURIA; MARTINO, VERONICA P; JIMENEZ, ALFONSO; RUSECKAITE, ROXANA A.

Atenas

Conferencia; Conference on Modification, Degradation and Stabilization of Polymers from 5 – 9 September 2010; 2010

Modest Society

The enzymatic degradation of plasticized PLA and its nano-biocomposites obtained by the addition of organo-modified montmorillonite in the presence of Proteinase K at 37 ºC was studied by determination of weight loss as well as structural and thermal properties. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Wide-Angle X-Ray Diffraction (WAXS) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to test the effect of the enzymatic degradation on these materials during 7 days. It was concluded that the use of plasticizer and filler to yield nano-biocomposites lead to a notable decrease in the rate of enzymatic degradation of amorphous PLA by Proteinase K. This behaviour was caused by the formation of some crystalline domains by the addition of the filler and plasticizer.