Abstract
The use of synthetic polymers as material for the production of disposable packaging, generates high volumes of persistent environmental pollutants. One way to solve the problem of the accumulation of plastics is the production of biodegradable polymeric materials. This work presents the preparation and testing of the degradation capability of films prepared from blends of linear low density polyethylene with chitosan, using maleic anhydride as a compatibilizer. Polyethylene films with 15 % chitosan, lost 40 % of the initial values of tensile strength after 360 h of accelerated degradation, in contrast to the 20 % loss by the pure polyethylene film. Chitosan films also showed a 13 % of weight loss after being buried for 180 days, significantly more than the 0.05 % registered for the polyethylene film. The presence of maleic anhydride as a compatibilizing agent had a slight effect on the degradation rate of polyethylene films with chitosan.
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