Chitin Nanocomposite Based on Plasticized Poly(lactic acid)/Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PLA/PHB) Blends as Fully Biodegradable Packaging Materials

Magdalena L Iglesias-Montes; Michelina Soccio; Valentina Siracusa; Massimo Gazzano; Nadia Lotti; Viviana P Cyras; Liliana B Manfredi

doi:10.3390/polym14153177

Chitin Nanocomposite Based on Plasticized Poly(lactic acid)/Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PLA/PHB) Blends as Fully Biodegradable Packaging Materials

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Aug 3;14(15):3177. doi: 10.3390/polym14153177.

Authors

Magdalena L Iglesias-Montes¹, Michelina Soccio^{2

3}, Valentina Siracusa⁴, Massimo Gazzano⁵, Nadia Lotti^{2

3

6}, Viviana P Cyras¹, Liliana B Manfredi¹

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Mar del Plata 7600, Argentina.
² Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Bologna, 40131 Bologna, Italy.
³ Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research on Advanced Applications in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Technology, CIRI-MAM, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
⁴ Chemical Science Department, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy.
⁵ Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity, National Research Council, 40129 Bologna, Italy.
⁶ Interdepartmental Center for Agro-Food Research, CIRI-AGRO, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.

Abstract

Fully bio-based poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) blends plasticized with tributyrin (TB), and their nanocomposite based on chitin nanoparticles (ChNPs) was developed using melt mixing followed by a compression molding process. The combination of PHB and ChNPs had an impact on the crystallinity of the plasticized PLA matrix, thus improving its oxygen and carbon dioxide barrier properties as well as displaying a UV light-blocking effect. The addition of 2 wt% of ChNP induced an improvement on the initial thermal degradation temperature and the overall migration behavior of blends, which had been compromised by the presence of TB. All processed materials were fully disintegrated under composting conditions, suggesting their potential application as fully biodegradable packaging materials.

Keywords: biodegradable polymers; chitin nanoparticles; nanocomposites; packaging; poly(hydroxybutyrate); poly(lactic acid).

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.