The effect of sepiolite on the compatibilization of polyethylene–thermoplastic starch blends for environmentally friendly films

Green polyethylene is a new and attracting polymer from biobased resources (sugarcane) and identical properties to petroleum-based polyethylene. Its potential in the packaging industry is really promising. In this work, we report the use of different compatibilizer systems for green polyethylene (fr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials science 2015-01, Vol.50 (2), p.863-872
Main Authors: Samper-Madrigal, M. D., Fenollar, O., Dominici, F., Balart, R., Kenny, J. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodegradability
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemistry and Materials Science
Classical Mechanics
Clay minerals
Compatibility
Compatibilizers
Crystallography and Scattering Methods
Elongation
Graft copolymers
Maleic anhydride
Materials Science
Mechanical properties
Original Paper
Polyethylene
Polyethylenes
Polymer blends
Polymer Sciences
Scanning electron microscopy
Sepiolite
Solid Mechanics
Starches
Sugarcane
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Summary:Green polyethylene is a new and attracting polymer from biobased resources (sugarcane) and identical properties to petroleum-based polyethylene. Its potential in the packaging industry is really promising. In this work, we report the use of different compatibilizer systems for green polyethylene (from sugarcane) and thermoplastic starch (30 wt% TPS) in order to increase ductile mechanical properties and biodegradable content. Typical petroleum-based graft copolymer of polyethylene with maleic anhydride (PE- g -MA) is used as reference compatibilizer, and new compatibilizer systems are developed using sepiolite. The obtained results show that sepiolite-based compatibilizers provide good compatibilization properties as observed by a remarkable increase in elongation at break and a noticeable size reduction of the TPS domains dispersed in the green polyethylene matrix as observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
ISSN:0022-2461
1573-4803
DOI:10.1007/s10853-014-8647-8