Abstract
The degree of degradation of pure poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB-co-4HB)] and its composites with cork incubated under industrial and laboratory composting conditions was investigated. The materials were parallelly incubated in distilled water at 70 °C as a reference experiment (abiotic condition). It was demonstrated that addition of the cork into polyester strongly affects the matrix crystallinity. It influences the composite degradation independently on the degradation environment. Moreover, the addition of the cork increases the thermal stability of the obtained composites; this was related to a smaller reduction in molar mass during processing. This phenomenon also had an influence on the composite degradation process. The obtained results suggest that the addition of cork as a natural filler in various mass ratios to the composites enables products with different life expectancies to be obtained.
Highlights
In recent years, many efforts have been made to design composites with the advantages of being stable during use and being susceptible to microbial attack during organic recycling [1]
It is worth mentioning that even concrete and steel are currently being replaced by composite materials
Cork powder with an average particle size of 1.0 mm, bulk density of 65 kg·m−3, and humidity value of approximately 4.6% was provided by Corkpol, Ożarów Mazowiecki, Poland
Summary
Many efforts have been made to design composites with the advantages of being stable during use and being susceptible to microbial attack during organic recycling [1]. The addition of natural fillers to composites has been widely discussed in the literature because of their effect on the mechanical properties of composites. It has been proven that natural fillers influence the degradation ability of these composites [2]. A material prepared by combining two or more constituents is called a composite material. Such multicomponent materials are gaining more interest for applications because of many advantages, such as low mass, high strength, and most importantly, low maintenance costs, of industrial appliances [3].
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