Abstract
The increasing demand for environmental protection has led to the rapid development of greener and biodegradable polymers, whose creation provided new challenges and opportunities for the advancement of nanomaterial science. Biodegradable polymer materials and even nanofillers (e.g., natural fibers) are important because of their application in greener industries. Polymers that can be degraded naturally play an important role in solving public hazards of polymer materials and maintaining ecological balance. The inherent shortcomings of some biodegradable polymers such as weak mechanical properties, narrow processing windows, and low electrical and thermal properties can be overcome by composites reinforced with various nanofillers. These biodegradable polymer composites have wide-ranging applications in different areas based on their large surface area and greater aspect ratio. Moreover, the polymer composites that exploit the synergistic effect between the nanofiller and the biodegradable polymer matrix can lead to enhanced properties while still meeting the environmental requirement. In this paper, a broad review on recent advances in the research and development of nanofiller reinforced biodegradable polymer composites that are used in various applications, including electronics, packing materials, and biomedical uses, is presented. We further present information about different kinds of nanofillers, biodegradable polymer matrixes, and their composites with specific concern to our daily applications.
Highlights
With the depletion of energy and the worsening environmental problems associated with plastic scrap disposal from petroleum production, there has been a growing interest in biodegradable and renewable resources
This paper mainly introduces nanofiller reinforced biodegradable polymer composites, in which the matrix need to come from renewable resources
They found that the heat release rate (HRR) was reduced by 58% compared to native polylactic acid (PLA) because of the addition of multi-walled carbon nanotubes
Summary
With the depletion of energy and the worsening environmental problems associated with plastic scrap disposal from petroleum production, there has been a growing interest in biodegradable and renewable resources. To expand the range of applications of biodegradable polymers in various fields, the performance of biodegradable polymers needs to be enhanced An example of this is the use of bio-based hybrid nanocomposites that would enhance the synergy of natural fibers in bio-based polymers while improving performance and maintaining environmental attractiveness [1,7,18]. Prior to mercantile use of bio-based wrappers, some elementary problems must be solved including the rate of degradation, changes in mechanical behavior during conservation, possibility of microbial proliferation, and contamination of packaged foods by harmful compounds. These biopolymer wrappers have a higher hydrophilicity and are weaker during processing, resulting in industrial restrictions [35]. This article looks forward to the future processing technology, product development and application of nanofillers to enhance biocomposite materials [45]
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