TY - JOUR
T1 - Sustainable, high barrier polyaleuritate/nanocellulose biocomposites
AU - Tedeschi, Giacomo
AU - Guzman-Puyol, Susana
AU - Ceseracciu, Luca
AU - Benitez, Jose Jesus
AU - Cataldi, Pietro
AU - Bissett, Mark
AU - Heredia, Antonio
AU - Athanassiou, Athanassia
AU - Heredia-Guerrero, José A.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Free-standing and flexible biocomposite films formed by a polyaleuritate matrix and nanocellulose fillers (i.e., cellulose nanofibrils) have been fabricated by a sustainable process. For this, 9,10,16-trihydroxyhexadecanoic (aleuritic) acid from shellac and nanocellulose were blended at different ratios in water through a sonication process. Polymerization of the polyhydroxylated fatty acid into polyaleuritate was induced by a solvent-free, melting poly-condensation reaction in oven. These biocomposites were characterized to evaluate their chemical (by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy) and physical (e.g., density, thermal stability, rigidity, gas permeability, surface energy, etc.) properties. The compatibility between the polyester matrix and the polysaccharide fillers was excellent due to the interaction by H-bonds of the polar groups of both components. The addition of nanocellulose increased all determined mechanical parameters as well as the wettability and the barrier properties, while the thermal stability and the water uptake were determined by the polyaleuritate matrix. The physical properties of these biocomposites were compared to those of petroleum-based plastics and bio-based polymers indicates that the developed materials can represent a sustainable alternative for different applications such as packaging.
AB - Free-standing and flexible biocomposite films formed by a polyaleuritate matrix and nanocellulose fillers (i.e., cellulose nanofibrils) have been fabricated by a sustainable process. For this, 9,10,16-trihydroxyhexadecanoic (aleuritic) acid from shellac and nanocellulose were blended at different ratios in water through a sonication process. Polymerization of the polyhydroxylated fatty acid into polyaleuritate was induced by a solvent-free, melting poly-condensation reaction in oven. These biocomposites were characterized to evaluate their chemical (by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy) and physical (e.g., density, thermal stability, rigidity, gas permeability, surface energy, etc.) properties. The compatibility between the polyester matrix and the polysaccharide fillers was excellent due to the interaction by H-bonds of the polar groups of both components. The addition of nanocellulose increased all determined mechanical parameters as well as the wettability and the barrier properties, while the thermal stability and the water uptake were determined by the polyaleuritate matrix. The physical properties of these biocomposites were compared to those of petroleum-based plastics and bio-based polymers indicates that the developed materials can represent a sustainable alternative for different applications such as packaging.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85089953810
U2 - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c00909
DO - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c00909
M3 - Article
SN - 2168-0485
JO - ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
JF - ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
ER -