Morphology and thermal properties of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)/attapulgite nanocomposites

• Main Authors: Rossana Mara da Silva Moreira Thiré, Liliane Cardoso Arruda, Ledjane Silva Barreto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Brasileira de Metalurgia e Materiais (ABM); Associação Brasileira de Cerâmica (ABC); Associação Brasileira de Polímeros (ABPol) 2011-09-01
• Series: Materials Research
• Subjects: PHBV; attapulgite; nanocomposites; biodegradable polymer
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-14392011000300010

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) - PHBV is a biodegradable polyester which has been studied as an option for the production of disposable goods. Attapulgite is a fibrous clay mineral. The aim of this work was to produce and characterize renewable resource derived-nanocomposites based on PHBV and organophilic attapulgite (MAT). The nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, SEM and thermal analysis. It was observed reduction in degree of crystallinity, in melting and glass transition temperatures and in thermal stability of polymer due to the addition of clay to PHBV matrix. The best results were obtained for PHBV films containing 3 and 5% MAT. These films presented a slight increase in processing window and decrease in crystalline temperature and in degree of crystallinity as compared to pure PHBV.