Open Access

ARTICLE

PHBV Crystallization under Injection Molding Conditions: Influence of Packing Pressure and Mold Temperature

G. El hajj Sleiman¹, G. Colomines¹, R. Deterre¹, I. Petit1, E. Leroy², S. Belhabib^1,*

1 UBL, IUT Nantes, CNRS, GEPEA, UMR 6144, OPERP, 2 Avenue du professeur Jean ROUXEL, BP 539, 44475 Carquefou, France
2 UBL, CNRS, GEPEA, UMR 6144, CRTT, 37, Boulevard de l’Université, 44606 St Nazaire Cedex, France

*Corresponding author:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2018, 6(3), 270-276. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2017.634179

Abstract

Poly(3-hydroxy butyrate)-co-(3-hydroxy valerate) (PHBV) is a biobased and biodegradable polyester. This semicrystalline bioplastic could be a good candidate for the replacement of some commodity plastics derived from oil. However, the control of the conditions of its processing in order to obtain optimal properties of the finished products remains a current research subject. The objective of this work is to better understand the crystallization under injection molding conditions by inline measurements during the process. We focused on the influence of two key processing parameters, namely, mold temperature and packing pressure. The modeling of inline temperature measurements allowed an inverse estimation of the thermodynamic melting temperature of PHBV and of the heat of crystallization's variations with processing parameters.

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Keywords

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