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Biopolymers are gaining increasing interest because of decline of mineral oil reserves, increasing waste problem, and increasing consciousness of society for environmental problems. However, competitiveness of biopolymers compared with conventional plastics is still limited due to partly insufficient properties and high prices. This study investigates the influence of blending of poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) with poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) as well as the influence of addition of functionalized montmorillonite (OMMT) to the blends on morphology and thermal behavior. Dispersion state and morphology of the nanocomposites are studied by X-ray diffraction as well as scanning electron microscopy. Thermal stability is studied by thermogravimetric analysis and crystallization behavior is studied by differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy. With respect to the morphology for the blends it can be seen that the immiscible biopolymers PHBV and PBAT are distributed in interlocking zones. There is a good dispersion and homogeneous distribution of OMMT within the biopolymer blends. The addition of 50% or more PBAT to PHBV as well as the insertion of OMMT enhances thermal stability of PHBV. In the blends, the addition of PBAT retards crystallization of PHBV. The OMMT acts as nucleating agent leading in total to more but less perfect crystals in the blends, and the crystallization slows further due to constraint in the movement of polymer chains. These results contribute to the understanding of the structure-properties relationship of bionanocomposite materials for packaging applications. POLYM. COMPOS., 36:2051-2058, 2015

Several natural matrices were investigated as potential sources of antioxidants to be used as plastic additives. Extracts of four matrices obtained under the same experimental conditions were initially considered: green tea, black tea, Lippia citriodora and Hypericum androsaemum. Both, the antioxidant activity of the extracts and their content in flavanols and quercetin, were compared. The antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH analysis and the phenolic composition by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using ultraviolet (UV) diode array and fluorescence (FL) detectors. Concentration of the flavanols reduced in the same way as their antioxidant activity starting with green tea, through black tea, Hypericum androsaemum, and Lippia citriodora. The performance of polypropylene samples stabilized with green tea extract, or its individual components catechin and epicatechin, was compared with samples stabilized with a mixture of the synthetic antioxidants Irganox 1076 and Irgafos 168. Each sample was extruded and consecutively reextruded up to four times. The melt flow index (MFI) and the oxidation induction time (OIT) of the samples were measured after each step. The obtained results showed the interest of this natural matrix as a potential source of antioxidants for plastics.

Nowadays, there is a growing availability of biodegradable industrial materials intended to food contact applications whose service life behavior needs to be further investigated. This article is focused on the degradation of two materials based on polylactic acid. The correlation between the rate of degradation and the amount of trapped degradation products was investigated applying three characterization techniques in parallel, namely rheology, high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI). The rate of degradation was studied through the evaluation of their rheological properties and calculation of the number of average molecular weights, and weight‐average molecular weights. Water‐soluble oligomers and lactic acid were quantified by HPLC‐ultraviolet. Changes in cyclic and linear oligomers were monitored by MALDI‐time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. Specimens of 4‐mm thickness of each biopolymer were subjected to hydrolysis in deionized water up to 6 months at two temperatures, simulating service conditions of food packaging. The diminution in viscosity and consequently in molecular weight distribution (20–60%) showed the degradation of the molecular structure of both polylactic acids. The chain scission was followed through the increasing values of lactic acid and hydrolyzed oligomers (twofold to eightfold), and the predominant signal of the linear oligomers over the cyclic ones with aging. Rheology, HPLC, and MALDI showed to be complementary tools to better understand the changes in the molecular structure. The obtained results showed the necessity of adding suitable stabilizers for each particular food packaging application. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.