Alkaline Treatment Variables to Characterize Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)/Poly(Vinyl Butyral/Vinyl Alcohol) Blend Films

Seong Baek Yang; Mohammad Rezaul Karim; Jungeon Lee; Jeong Hyun Yeum; Sabina Yeasmin

doi:10.3390/polym14183916

Alkaline Treatment Variables to Characterize Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)/Poly(Vinyl Butyral/Vinyl Alcohol) Blend Films

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Sep 19;14(18):3916. doi: 10.3390/polym14183916.

Authors

Seong Baek Yang^{1

2}, Mohammad Rezaul Karim^{2

3}, Jungeon Lee¹, Jeong Hyun Yeum¹, Sabina Yeasmin¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biofibers and Biomaterials Science, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea.
² Center of Excellence for Research in Engineering Materials, Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia.
³ The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A. CARE), Energy Research and Innovation Center, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Novel poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/poly(vinyl butyral-vinyl alcohol) (P(VB-VA)) films with improved hydrophobicity were prepared from poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc)/poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) blend films with various mass ratios by saponification in a heterogeneous medium. The successful conversion of PVAc to PVA and PVAc/PVB to PVA/P(VB-VA) films was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. This study also shows that the degree of saponification (DS) depends on the saponification time. The maximum DS of 99.99% was obtained at 96 h of saponification for all films, and the presence of PVB did not affect the DS at saponification times of 48-96 h. The effects of the PVAc/PVB blend ratio before and after saponification were determined by contact angle measurement, and the hydrophobicity was found to increase in both cases with increasing PVB content. Additionally, all the films exhibited improved mechanical properties after saponification, and the treated films possessed an unusual porous and uneven surface, in contrast with the untreated films. The prepared films with improved hydrophobicity can be used for various applications, such as biomaterials, filters, and medical devices.

Keywords: blend film; heterogeneous saponification; poly(vinyl alcohol); poly(vinyl butyral).

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by Ministry of Education (NRF-2020R1I1A3075002), Korea.