Open Access

ARTICLE

The Influence of Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) on Oil Release Behavior of Polylactide-Based Composites Filled with Linseed Cake

Olga Mysiukiewicz^1,*, Mateusz Barczewski¹, Joanna Szulc²

1 Division of Polymer Processing, Institute of Material Technology, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, 61-138, Poland
2 Departament of Food Industry Technology and Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, UTP University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, 85-326, Poland

* Corresponding Author: Olga Mysiukiewicz. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: The 10th Conference on Green Chemistry and Nanotechnologies in Polymeric Materials (GCNPM 2019))

Journal of Renewable Materials 2020, 8(4), 347-363. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2020.09276

Received 28 November 2019; Accepted 18 February 2020; Issue published 24 April 2020

Abstract

In order to limit the negative impact of industry on natural environment, ecological alternatives to conventional polymers are being proposed. One of the most popular “green” polymers is polylactide, which can also be successfully applied as a matrix of composites. The application of ground linseed cake as a filler for polylactide-based composites is in line with the idea of Circular Economy, and moreover it provides a modifying effect on the polymer by increasing its crystallinity and reducing its brittleness. This effect is caused by the presence of linseed oil which can be released to the polymeric matrix in a non-controlled way. In order to control the miscibility of the oil and the polymer, we modified the filler particles with poly(vinyl alcohol) before introducing it to the polylactide. We concluded that poly(vinyl alcohol), which does not mix with oil, encapsulated the active ingredients inside the filler particles. We evaluated the mechanical properties of the composites containing 5, 10, 20 and 30 wt% of the filler in a static tensile stress and by means of dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Crystallinity and thermal properties were tested using differential scanning calorimetry as well as thermogravimetric analysis. Composites’ microstructure was evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy. It was found that modifying the oil-rich filler with poly(vinyl alcohol) helps to reduce its release to the matrix and thus limits the plasticizing effect of linseed cake. This result was in accordance with our hypothesis.

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