Acta Chimica Slovaca (ACS) publishes papers on fundamental and applied aspects of chemistry, biochemistry, chemical technology, chemical engineering and process control, biotechnology and food technology. Welcome are also topics which include chemical aspects of materials, physical chemistry and chemical physics, analytical chemistry, macromolecular chemistry and biomedical engineering.

Biodegradable polymer packaging materials based on polycaprolactone, starch and polyhydroxybutyrate

Ida Vašková *, Pavol Alexy, Peter Bugaj, Anna Nahálková, Jozef Feranc, Tomáš Mlynský

Department of Plastics and Rubber, Institute of Polymer Materials, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, Bratislava 812 37, Slovak Republic

E-mail: * ida.vaskova@stuba.sk

Abstract: In this work, novel multicomponent blends were prepared. These blends were based on three main components: polycaprolactone, native corn starch and polyhydroxybutyrate. All mixtures were prepared using twin screw extruder by two different techniques. The mechanical properties of these materials were evaluated for comparison of influence of different preparation processes on blend’s properties. The description of morphology of blends was based on SEM micrographs. The developed three-component materials (polycaprolactone/corn starch/polyhydroxybutyrate) composed mostly of materials from renewable resources were designed, prepared and tested as well.

Keywords: biodegradable polymer materials, corn starch, packaging materials, polycaprolactone, polyhydroxybutyrate

Full paper in Portable Document Format: acs_0026.pdf

Acta Chimica Slovaca, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2008, pp. 301—308