Fabrication and Characterization of Completely Biodegradable Copolyester–Chitosan Blends: I. Spectroscopic and Thermal Characterization

Abstract

Summary Chitosan was prepared from shells of locally available fresh water prawns with variation of sodium hydroxide concentration and reaction time. The biopolymer was melt‐mixed with a commercially available biodegradable polymer, the poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT). The chitosan and blend films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The glass transition temperature (Tg) and melting point of the materials remained unchanged implying complete incompatibility of the blend components. Kinetic study showed that activation energy of the degradation process, i.e., thermal stability of the blends, decreased with increasing chitosan content in the blends. As the thermal properties of all the samples were found to be identical, it can be concluded that there was no effect of the added chitosan on the crystallization and melting behavior of the PBAT. These findings support the notion of the absence of interactions among the blend components. The rate of biodegradation was found to be higher in blends compared to pure PBAT polymer.

Compostable composites of wheat stalk micro‐ and nanocrystalline cellulose and poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate): Surface properties and degradation behavior

“…22 Surface morphology of the samples was observed by digital camera before and after composting while detailed morphological studies were carried out by SEM. Soil composting degradation tests were performed for the PBAT/MCC composites using 8 cm × 8 cm specimens.…”

“…Different stages of the surface morphological features of the samples subjected to different periods of soil burial were studied. 22 Among the results presented in Figure 8, morphological features of the composite M-20 were studied in detail with electron microscopy. The photographs in Figure 8 shows that compared to the highly ductile nature of the PBAT, on soil composting, both the PBAT as well as its composites became quite brittle.…”

“…12,13 In this context, several "biodegradable" and biobased plastics have been commercialized. 19,21,22 Turning towards the renewable flora-based resource of the nature, either from agriculture or from the forest products, it can be observed that major part of the plant bodies are made up of macromolecular cellulosic materials. [17][18][19][20] Many studies have proved that the degradation behavior of such polymers can be tuned preciously on mixing with biofillers of animals or plant origins such as chitosan, hydroxyapatite, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC).…”

Fabrication and Characterization of Biodegradable Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Chitosan Blends

“…The characteristics band of chitosan at 1545 cm -1 which is assigned to the stretching vibration of amino group of chitosan [37], shifted to 1560 cm -1 . Bands appeared at 894 and 1024 cm -1 were mainly due to saccharide group [38].…”

“…This is due to the fact that when two or more polymers are mixed, change in characteristics spectral peaks reflected that the blends are the physical blends with chemical interactions [39]. The broad peak at 1024 cm -1 due to C-O stretching vibration in the spectrum of chitosan [37] was shifted to 1031 cm -1 in the blend (PVA/CS). The FTIR results revealed that the cross linking was present in the blended compounds through H-bonding and covalent bond between amine group of chitosan and glutaraldehyde.…”