Abstract
The impact of plastics on the environment can be mitigated by employing biobased and/or biodegradable materials (i.e., bioplastics) instead of the traditional “commodities”. In this context, poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) emerges as one of the most promising alternatives due to its good mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties, making it suitable for use in a wide range of applications. Still, the PBS has some drawbacks, such as its high crystallinity, which must be overcome to position it as a real and viable alternative to “commodities”. This contribution covers the actual state-of-the-art of the PBS through different sections. The first section reviews the different synthesis routes, providing a complete picture regarding the obtained molecular weights and the greener alternatives. Afterward, we examine how different strategies such as random copolymerization and the incorporation of fillers can effectively modulate PBS properties to satisfy the needs for different applications. The impact of these strategies is evaluated in the crystallization behavior, crystallinity, mechanical and barrier properties, and biodegradation. The biodegradation is carefully analyzed, highlighting the wide variety of methodologies existing in the literature to measure PBS degradation through different routes (hydrolytic, enzymatic, and soil).
Highlights
Plastic consumption has undergone an incredible increase over the last decades, reaching a record of 367 million tons produced in 2020 worldwide, with a rise of 5.2% with respect to 2017 [1] and a slight decrease of 0.3% compared to 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic [2]
This paper focused on reviewing the current strategies to modulate the thermo-m chanical, barrier, and biodegradation properties of PBS
The modulation of the high cry tallization and low degradation rates are desired for the commercial applications of PB With this aim, we revised the random copolymerization of PBS
Summary
Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 3, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
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