Issue 12, 2017, Issue in Progress

Thermoplastic starch–polyethylene blends homogenised using deep eutectic solvents

Abstract

Polyolefin based plastics are extensively used for packaging applications and as such they tend to have a short service life but they have a long environmental persistence. One strategy to accelerate the mechanical degradation of polyolefin plastics in the environment is to blend them with carbohydrate based polymers. Unfortunately polyolefins are hydrophobic whereas carbohydrates tend to be hydrophilic so the two do not blend without chemical modification of the carbohydrate. In this study high density polyethylene, HDPE and thermoplastic starch, TPS are used as the polymers with deep eutectic solvents, DESs as the modifiers. Both TPS and DESs are biodegradable and the DESs are water miscible and biocompatible ensuring that the composite plastic contains a biodegradable flaw which should enable mechanical and chemical degradation. It is shown that DESs enable facile mixing of the two polymers. The composite has a strength similar to TPS but a ductility greater than either of the two components. The glass transition temperature of the composite plastic shows that they are homogeneously mixed and data suggests that the DESs act as lubricants rather than plasticisers.

Graphical abstract: Thermoplastic starch–polyethylene blends homogenised using deep eutectic solvents

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Jan 2017
Accepted
14 Jan 2017
First published
23 Jan 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 7268-7273

Thermoplastic starch–polyethylene blends homogenised using deep eutectic solvents

A. P. Abbott, T. Z. Abolibda, W. Qu, W. R. Wise and L. A. Wright, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 7268 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA00135E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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