Biodegradable, Colorless, and Odorless PLA/PBAT Bioplastics Incorporated with Corn Stover

Abstract

The effective use of agricultural lignocellulose resources in biodegradable bioplastics has become the focus of people's attention due to the inappropriate disposal of agricultural waste and plastic materials. However, the repulsive smell and uncontrollable color of agricultural lignocellulose-based materials limit their potential to replace common consumer plastics. In this study, when the corn stover (CS) meal enforced the PLA/PBAT matrix using the melt blending method, the lignin and hemicellulose components were shown to substantially impact the color darkening and unsavory odor release for the resultant bioplastic; therefore, an optimized scalable alkaline hydrogen peroxide oxidation that can be performed using traditional pulp and paper production lines was used to modify CS on a large scale (LCS) to enhance the properties of bioplastics fabricated with the PLA/PBAT matrix. As a result, the appearance color and odor character of the bioplastic enforced by LCS have been significantly improved compared to those of natural CS. In addition, the bioplastic (LCS/ PLA/PBAT) exhibited good tensile strength (9.7 MPa), flexural strength (18.1 MPa), elongation at break (61.8%), and surface hydrophobicity with a contact angle value of 91.6°, which could meet the requirement of the Chinese National Standard for Packaging. The reinforcing effect of LCS on these performances lay in its rigid structure with a strong fiber network, high content of cellulose crystalline, and hydrophobic nature of lignin after treatment, as proven by FTIR, XRD, and SEM results. Therefore, our bioplastics filled with treated agricultural waste are attractive appearance-wise, economically competitive, and biodegradable, making them a sustainable alternative to common consumer plastics.

Poly(amide11)-Incorporated Block Copolymers as Compatibilizers to Toughen a Poly(lactide)/Polyamide 11 Blend

“…The single-phase method has drawbacks such as the leaching of added substances, reduction in initial modulus, and yield stress. , On the other hand, the multiphase method utilizing block copolymers is challenging because it involves complex manufacturing processes . As a result, many researchers have focused on blending PLA with other polymers, such as PLA/PBAT, − PLA/PCL, , PLA/PBS, PLA/PEO, PLA/PA, , PLA/PVDF, PLA/LDPE, all of which have received significant attention in recent years because of their relatively easy accessibility and study.…”

Green Strong Cornstalk Rind-Based Cellulose-PVA Aerogel for Oil Adsorption and Thermal Insulation

“…Corn husks can be used for bioplastic [1], textile fibers [3,4], cellulose nanocrystals [5], etc., due to their high cellulose content [6]. Scientific progress has created opportunities for cornstalk use in bioethanol, dissolved pulps [7], nanocellulose [8][9][10], cellulose fibers [11][12][13], polymer composites [6,14,15], bioplastics [16][17][18], aerogel [19], etc. Exploiting CSs efficiently would help recycle and add value to agricultural waste.…”

Integrated Hemicellulose Extraction and Papermaking Fiber Production from Agro-Waste Biomass

“…The use of agricultural waste biomass as fillers in different bio-composites [31], bio-plastics, tires [32], and other reinforced polymers [33,34] is one of the most promising directions to its conversion into value-added goods [34]. The CS fibers in particular were tested as fillers for various composite materials such as: tire rubber powder composite [35], polylactide composite [36], colorless and odorless bio-plastics [37] and other green composites [38]. Moreover, various integrated biorefinery processes were proposed to fully convert CS into value-added products [30,39,40].…”