Abstract
In this work, novel composites based on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) were prepared and characterized in terms of morphological, thermal, rheological and mechanical properties. Hollow glass microspheres (HGM), alone or surface modified by treatment with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) in order to enhance the compatibility between the inorganic particles and the polymer matrix, were used to obtain lightweight composites with improved properties. The silanization treatment implies a good dispersion of filler particles in the matrix and an enhanced filler–polymer adhesion. The addition of HGM to PCL has relevant implications on the rheological and mechanical properties enhancing the stiffness of the material. Furthermore, the presence of HGM strongly interferes with the crystallization behavior and thermo-oxidative degradation of PCL. The increase of PCL crystallization rate was observed as a function of the HGM amount in the composites. Finally, rotational molding tests demonstrated the possibility of successfully producing manufactured goods in PCL and PCL-based composites on both a laboratory and industrial scale.
Highlights
Due to environmental and sustainability issues induced by the accumulation of plastic waste, the interest in the use of biodegradable polymers is rapidly growing
PCL presents the disadvantage of low thermal resistance and heat deflection temperature, as its melting point
In this work, using an alternative approach, we considered to reinforce PCL with hollow glass microspheres (HGM) in order to: (i) obtain lightweight composite materials with enhanced mechanical properties and (ii) widen the application fields of PCL
Summary
Due to environmental and sustainability issues induced by the accumulation of plastic waste, the interest in the use of biodegradable polymers is rapidly growing. The replacement of petroleum-based polymers for commodities of large-scale applications is still rather limited due to the lower thermal and mechanical properties of biodegradable polymers as well as their relatively high costs [1,2,3]. Among the family of environmentally friendly biodegradable polymers, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is one of the typically used aliphatic polyesters, being fully biodegradable, biocompatible, and nontoxic to living organisms. PCL has good flexibility as testified by its high fracture strain. These properties have led PCL to be extensively used since the 1980s in the biomaterials field, for drug delivery and the fabrication of many medical devices. PCL presents the disadvantage of low thermal resistance and heat deflection temperature, as its melting point
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