Degradation of polycaprolactone/starch blends and composites with sisal fibre

C.R. DI FRANCO; V.P.CYRAS; J.P.BUSALMEN; R.A.RUSECKAITE; A.VAZQUEZ

POLYMER DEGRADATION AND STABILITY

Elsevier

Año: 2004 vol. 86 p. 95 - 103

0141-3910

The susceptibility of polycaprolactone/starch (PCL/S) and sisal fibre-reinforced polycaprolactone/starch blends (SF-PCL/S) to different degrading environments was evaluated. The composites and the unfilled matrix showed hydrolytic stability at pH 7.2 at two different temperatures (25 (C and 40 (C). Fibres were stable under hydrolytic conditions and seemed to favour the entrance of water and then, the swelling and the hydrolysis of the starch (the most bio-available component). At higher fibre content, the composites become more hydrolytically stable probably due to the presence of a fibreefibre physical network. Microbial attack in biotic aqueous medium was evidenced by the presence of a biofilm, especially on the fibre surface. In soil burial, PCL/S and 15%SFePCL/S were degraded to about 50% of the initial mass. The weight loss pattern showed by the composite was associated with the presence of strong fibre-fibre and fibre-matrix interactions, which are absent in the neat matrix.