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

• 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
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-014-8647-8

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).