Premium
Films made from poly(vinyl alcohol‐ co ‐ethylene) and soluble biopolymers isolated from municipal biowaste
Author(s) -
Franzoso Flavia,
Tabasso Silvia,
Antonioli Diego,
Montoneri Enzo,
Persico Paola,
Laus Michele,
Mendichi Raniero,
Negre Michele
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.41359
Subject(s) - vinyl alcohol , digestate , biopolymer , compost , polymer , chemical engineering , materials science , organic chemistry , polyester , chemistry , polymer chemistry , methane , waste management , anaerobic digestion , engineering
Blends were obtained from poly(vinyl alcohol‐ co ‐ethylene) and water‐soluble biopolymers isolated from the alkaline hydrolysate of two materials sampled from an urban waste treatment plant: that is, an anaerobic fermentation digestate and a compost. The digestate biopolymers contained more lipophilic and aliphatic C and less acidic functional groups than the compost biopolymers. Evidence was obtained for a condensation reaction occurring between the biopolymers and the synthetic polymer. The thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties of the blends were studied. Films containing a low concentration (ca. 6–7%) of biopolymers exhibited up to three times higher yield strength than the neat synthetic polymer. The films' properties were found to be dependent on the concentration and nature of the biopolymers. The results offer a scope for investigating biopolymers sourced from other biowastes and for a better understanding of the reasons for the observed effects and exploiting their full potential for modifying or replacing synthetic polymers. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 41359.