Development and characterization of bionanocomposites based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and cellulose nanocrystals for packaging applications

IRENE SEOANE; ELENA FORTUNATI; DEBORA PUGLIA; VIVIANA CYRAS; LILIANA MANFREDI

POLYMER INTERNATIONAL

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Lugar: LOndres; Año: 2016 vol. 65 p. 1046 - 1053

0959-8103

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)-based bionanocomposites were prepared using various percentages of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) by a solution casting method. CNCs were prepared from microcrystalline cellulose using sulfuric acid hydrolysis. The influence of CNCs on PHB properties was evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetryandtensile testing.Vaporpermeation andlight transmission of thematerialswere also measured. Differential scanning calorimetric tests demonstrated that CNCs were effective PHB nucleation agents. Tensile strength and Young?smodulus ofPHBincreased with increasing CNCconcentration. Moreover, the PHB/CNC bionanocomposites exhibited reduced water vapor permeation compared to neat PHB and had better UV barrier properties than commodity polymers such as polypropylene. It was found that nanocomposites with 6wt% of CNCs had the optimum balance among thermal, mechanical and barrier properties.