Visco-Elastic and Thermal Properties of Microbiologically Synthesized Polyhydroxyalkanoate Plasticized with Triethyl Citrate
Polymers 2023
Madara Žiganova, Remo Merijs-Meri, Jānis Zicāns, Ivans Bočkovs, Tatjana Ivanova, Armands Vīgants, Enno Ence, Evita Štrausa

The current research is devoted to the investigation of the plasticization of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV) with triethyl citrate (TEC). Three different PHB or PHBV-based systems with 10, 20, and 30 wt.% of TEC were prepared by two-roll milling. The effect of TEC on the rheological, thermal, mechanical, and calorimetric properties of the developed compression-molded PHB and PHBV-based systems was determined. It was revealed that the addition of TEC significantly influenced the melting behavior of both polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), reducing their melting temperatures and decreasing viscosities. It was also revealed that all the investigated systems demonstrated less than 2% weight loss until 200 °C and rapid degradation did not occur until 240–260 °C in an oxidative environment. Apart from this, a remarkable increase (ca 2.5 times) in ultimate tensile deformation εB was observed by increasing the amount of TEC in either PHB or PHBV. A concomitant, considerable drop in ultimate strength σB and modulus of elasticity E was observed. Comparatively, the plasticization efficiency of TEC was greater in the case of PHBV.


Keywords
biopolymers | plasticization | polyhydroxyalkanoates | polyhydroxybutyrate | triethyl citrate
DOI
10.3390/polym15132896
Hyperlink
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/13/2896

Žiganova, M., Merijs-Meri, R., Zicāns, J., Bočkovs, I., Ivanova, T., Vīgants, A., Ence, E., Štrausa, E. Visco-Elastic and Thermal Properties of Microbiologically Synthesized Polyhydroxyalkanoate Plasticized with Triethyl Citrate. Polymers, 2023, Vol. 15, No. 13, Article number 2896. ISSN 2073-4360. Pieejams: doi:10.3390/polym15132896

Publication language
English (en)
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