Effect of Reprocessing Cycles on the Morphology and Mechanical Properties of a Poly(Propylene)/Poly(Hydroxybutyrate) Blend and its Nanocomposite

Abstract

The use of polymer blends and composites based on fossil-based and bio-based polymers has become an important environmentally protective alternative for common use and disposable plastics applications such as packaging, bottles and trays. The disposal of these more degradable products, however, may also harm the environment and, therefore, recycling these systems becomes relevant. Recycling involves reprocessing which can significantly change the morphology and properties of polymeric products. Therefore, this study deals with the effects of reprocessing cycles on the properties and morphology of blends and nanocomposites based on fossil and bio-based polymers. The systems investigated were: a) neat polypropylene (PP), b) a polypropylene/poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PP/PHB) blend and c) PP/PHB/organoclay nanocomposite compatibilized with polypropylene-g-maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) and erucamide. These materials were submitted to up to seven extrusion cycles in a single screw extruder operating at 60 rpm. Samples were taken after the first, third, fifth and seventh extrusion cycles and their tensile properties and morphology were determined. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that two phases were observed in the blend which showed spherical PHB domains. The addition of clay, PP-g-MA and erucamide improved the adhesion between the nanocomposites components. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that crystallinity tended to increase with the number of reprocessing cycles for all systems investigated up to the fifth cycle and then tended to decrease. A 10% crystallinity increase was observed for neat PP in the fifth cycle. In general, the tensile properties of all systems decreased with reprocessing and the highest losses were observed for the PP/PHB blend after seven processing cycles with 50% and 37% decreases in stress at break and elastic modulus, respectively. Impact strength of the PP matrix and of the PP/PHB blend tended to decrease with reprocessing, except for the nanocomposite which showed a slight increase especially after the seventh processing cycle in which an 18% increase in impact strength was observed.

Keywords:
reprocessing; cycles; morphology; mechanical; properties