(Bio)degradable Polymeric Materials for Sustainable Future—Part 2: Degradation Studies of P(3HB-co-4HB)/Cork Composites in Different Environments

Department of Microbiology and Virology School of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine Medical University of Silesia, 4 Jagiellońska St., 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland

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Polymers 2019, 11(3), 547; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11030547

Received: 22 February 2019 / Revised: 18 March 2019 / Accepted: 18 March 2019 / Published: 22 March 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodegradable Polymers - Where We Are and Where to Going)

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Abstract

The degree of degradation of pure poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB-co-4HB)] and its composites with cork incubated under industrial and laboratory composting conditions was investigated. The materials were parallelly incubated in distilled water at 70 °C as a reference experiment (abiotic condition). It was demonstrated that addition of the cork into polyester strongly affects the matrix crystallinity. It influences the composite degradation independently on the degradation environment. Moreover, the addition of the cork increases the thermal stability of the obtained composites; this was related to a smaller reduction in molar mass during processing. This phenomenon also had an influence on the composite degradation process. The obtained results suggest that the addition of cork as a natural filler in various mass ratios to the composites enables products with different life expectancies to be obtained. View Full-Text

Keywords: poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate); composites; cork; (bio)degradation; composting

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MDPI and ACS Style

Jurczyk, S.; Musioł, M.; Sobota, M.; Klim, M.; Hercog, A.; Kurcok, P.; Janeczek, H.; Rydz, J. (Bio)degradable Polymeric Materials for Sustainable Future—Part 2: Degradation Studies of P(3HB-co-4HB)/Cork Composites in Different Environments. Polymers 2019, 11, 547. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11030547

AMA Style

Jurczyk S, Musioł M, Sobota M, Klim M, Hercog A, Kurcok P, Janeczek H, Rydz J. (Bio)degradable Polymeric Materials for Sustainable Future—Part 2: Degradation Studies of P(3HB-co-4HB)/Cork Composites in Different Environments. Polymers. 2019; 11(3):547. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11030547

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jurczyk, Sebastian, Marta Musioł, Michał Sobota, Magdalena Klim, Anna Hercog, Piotr Kurcok, Henryk Janeczek, and Joanna Rydz. 2019. "(Bio)degradable Polymeric Materials for Sustainable Future—Part 2: Degradation Studies of P(3HB-co-4HB)/Cork Composites in Different Environments" Polymers 11, no. 3: 547. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11030547

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(Bio)degradable Polymeric Materials for Sustainable Future—Part 2: Degradation Studies of P(3HB-co-4HB)/Cork Composites in Different Environments

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