Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane-Supported Ionic Liquid as Platform for Designing Sustainable PBSA Nanocomposites

Abstract

The 21st century is often referred to as the “Age of Plastics” where the mass consumption of disposables leads to excessive pollution and contributes to the climate crisis. Indeed, single-use plastics are frequently used in packaging applications. Thus, in line with the political and ethical demands of our times, scholars and industries are pushed to search for sustainable materials. In this work, a new generation of nanocomposites were prepared by melt mixing using poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA) as a matrix reinforced with 5 wt % of POSSPh nanoclusters, i.e. unmodified trisilanol phenyl POSS (POSSPh-triol) and two prepared ionic liquid-modified POSSPh (IL-g-POSSPh) having chloride (Cl–) or bis-trifluoromethanesulfonimidate (NTf2 –) counteranions, in order to develop more sustainable and efficient active packaging food systems. The incorporation of IL-g-POSSPh into the PBSA matrix led to the formation of well-dispersed POSS nanoclusters (10 to 100 nm), resulting in a significant increase of the mechanical performances, i.e., Young’s modulus (982 vs 260 MPa) and strain at break (297 vs 226%). In addition, the corresponding PBSA nanocomposites displayed outstanding water (87%) and oxygen (90%) barrier properties combined with higher bactericidal and fungicidal activities. Finally, biodegradation tests under soil burial conditions showed a better ability of the PBSA nanocomposites to biodegrade after 12 weeks (84 against 58% for pure PBSA).