Effects of alkaline treated and untreated halloysite on the properties of poly(butylene succinate)/halloysite composite films

Abstract

Today, the growing use of disposable plastics, primarily obtained from synthetic polymers, requires the development of biodegradable and biobased alternatives. Here, efforts were made to improve the properties of poly (butylene succinate) (PBS), which is bio-based and biodegradable. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) was incorporated to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of PBS. The effects of alkaline treatment on the properties of PBS/HNT composite films were evaluated. The raw HNT powder was treated with NaOH, yielding alkaline HNT (HNT-A), which was compared with untreated HNT. Alkalization resulted in an increase in the diameters of HNTs and enhancement of thermal properties with HNT-A resulting 82% residue at 600°C. Subsequently, PBS composites reinforced with both HNT and HNT-A were fabricated through melt blending and compression molding techniques. The inclusion of HNT and HNT-A increased tensile strength of neat PBS from 13.8 MPa to around 15.9-17.7 MPa. However, alkalization had no considerable effects on the mechanical characteristic. The thermal stability changed with HNT-A reinforced films showing a residue of 5.2% at 600 °C, compared to 4.2% for untreated HNT films and 1.3% for neat PBS. Also, HNT-A reinforced films exhibited higher crystallinity (up to 51.3%) compared to untreated HNT films (49.4%), indicating that HNT-A acts as a nucleating agent. This paper presents valuable insights into the development of environmentally friendly materials for food packaging and highlights the potential of alkali-treated HNTs to enhance the properties of PBS as an alternative to conventional plastics, paving the way for researchers to explore further applications such as active packaging.

Keywords

• Alkalization
• Halloysite
• Poly (butylene succinate) film

Alkali işlem görmüş ve görmemiş halloysitin poli(bütilen süksinat)/halloysit kompozit filmlerin özellikleri üzerindeki etkileri

Öz

Günümüzde sentetik polimerlerden elde edilen tek kullanımlık plastiklerin kullanımındaki artış ile birlikte biyolojik olarak parçalanabilen ve biyo-bazlı alternatiflerin geliştirilmesi gereksinimi doğmuştur. Bu çalışmada, biyo-bazlı ve biyobozunur olan poli(bütilen süksinat) (PBS)'nin özelliklerini geliştirmeye odaklanılmıştır. Boru şeklinde bir kil minerali olan Halloysit nanotüpler (HNT'ler) PBS'nin mekanik ve termal özelliklerini iyileştirmek için kullanılmışlardır. Alkalizasyonun PBS/HNT kompozit filmlerinin özellikleri üzerindeki etkileri değerlendirilmiştir. Ham HNT tozu NaOH ile muamele edilerek alkali HNT (HNT-A) elde edilmiş ve daha sonra muamele edilmemiş HNT ile karşılaştırılmıştır. Alkalizasyon HNT'lerin çaplarında bir artışa ve termal özelliklerinin gelişmesine yol açmıştır. HNT-A’nın 600 ° C’deki kül miktarı %82 olarak belirlenmiştir. Daha sonra hem HNT hem de HNT-A takviyeli PBS kompozitleri eriyik harmanlama ve basınçlı kalıplama teknikleriyle üretilmiştir. Hem HNT hem de HNT-A'nın eklenmesi PBS'nin 13.8 MPa olan çekme dayanımını 15.9 ila 17.7 aralığına artırmıştır. Ancak alkalizasyonun mekanik özellikler üzerinde belirgin bir etkisi gözlenmemiştir. TGA ile HNT-A takviyeli filmlerde 600 °C'de %5.2 kalıntı görülürken, işlenmemiş HNT filmlerinde bu değer %4.2 ve saf PBS'de ise %1.3 olarak bulunmuştur. Ayrıca HNT-A takviyeli filmler, işlenmemiş HNT filmlerine (49.4%) göre daha yüksek kristalinite (51.3%'e kadar) sergilemiştir; bu da HNT-A'nın çekirdeklendirici ajan olarak davrandığını göstermiştir. Bu çalışma, ambalaj uygulamaları için çevre dostu malzemelerin geliştirilmesine ilişkin değerli bilgiler sunarak, alkali ile işlenmiş HNT'lerin, geleneksel plastiklere sürdürülebilir bir alternatif olarak PBS'nin özelliklerini geliştirme potansiyelini vurgulamakta ve akıllı ambalajlar gibi daha ileri uygulamalar için araştırmacılara zemin hazırlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Alkalizasyon
• Halloysit Poli (bütilen süksinat) filmi

Kaynakça

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