Green Processes for Green Products: The Use of Supercritical CO2 as Green Solvent for Compatibilized Polymer Blends

Iqbal, Muhammad; Mensen, Christiaan; Qian, Xiaohua; Picchioni, Francesco

doi:10.3390/polym10111285

Open AccessArticle

Green Processes for Green Products: The Use of Supercritical CO₂ as Green Solvent for Compatibilized Polymer Blends

by

Muhammad Iqbal

¹

,

Christiaan Mensen

²,

Xiaohua Qian

² and

Francesco Picchioni

^2,*

¹

Department of Chemistry, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha No. 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia

²

Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen (ENTEG), Chemical Product Engineering, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Polymers 2018, 10(11), 1285; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10111285

Submission received: 25 September 2018 / Revised: 23 October 2018 / Accepted: 26 October 2018 / Published: 19 November 2018

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Based Resins and Crosslinked Polymers from Renewable Resources)

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Abstract

Polycaprolactone-g-glycidyl methacrylate (PCL-g-GMA), a reactive interfacial agent for PCL-starch blends, is synthesized using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) as reaction medium and relatively high molecular weight PCL (M_w = 50,000). Higher GMA and radical initiator intakes lead to higher functionalization degrees (FD) for PCL-g-GMA samples. A mathematical model is developed to describe the correlation between monomer and initiator intake and FD values. The model shows an excellent R²-value (0.978), which implies a good fit of the experimental data. Comparison of this model with a similar one for the reaction in the melt clearly indicates a better reaction efficiency in scCO₂. Furthermore, GPC results show that less degradation occurred for samples made in scCO₂. Finally, the use of the PCL-g-GMA made in scCO₂ (as interfacial agent) in ternary blend of PCL/starch/PCL-g-GMA results in better mechanical properties with respect to those obtained by using the same graft-copolymer as prepared in the melt.

Keywords: starch; polycaprolactone; glycidyl methacrylate; compatibilization; supercritical carbon dioxide; mechanical properties

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MDPI and ACS Style

Iqbal, M.; Mensen, C.; Qian, X.; Picchioni, F. Green Processes for Green Products: The Use of Supercritical CO₂ as Green Solvent for Compatibilized Polymer Blends. Polymers 2018, 10, 1285. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10111285

AMA Style

Iqbal M, Mensen C, Qian X, Picchioni F. Green Processes for Green Products: The Use of Supercritical CO₂ as Green Solvent for Compatibilized Polymer Blends. Polymers. 2018; 10(11):1285. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10111285

Chicago/Turabian Style

Iqbal, Muhammad, Christiaan Mensen, Xiaohua Qian, and Francesco Picchioni. 2018. "Green Processes for Green Products: The Use of Supercritical CO₂ as Green Solvent for Compatibilized Polymer Blends" Polymers 10, no. 11: 1285. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10111285

APA Style

Iqbal, M., Mensen, C., Qian, X., & Picchioni, F. (2018). Green Processes for Green Products: The Use of Supercritical CO₂ as Green Solvent for Compatibilized Polymer Blends. Polymers, 10(11), 1285. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10111285

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Green Processes for Green Products: The Use of Supercritical CO₂ as Green Solvent for Compatibilized Polymer Blends

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