Preparation of isotactic polypropylene/fibrous cellulose composite oxo‐biodegradation induced by poly(ethylene oxide)/TiO2 initiator and accelerator system

Abstract

AbstractIn this work, a novel isotactic polypropylene (PP)/fibrous cellulose (FC) composite containing a poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/TiO2 was prepared, and its oxo‐biodegradation behavior was studied. FC loading of 5 and 1% resulted in an opaque film and relatively good transparence, respectively. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the nonphotodegraded composite samples revealed little PP auto‐oxidation under the melt‐mixing condition. Ultraviolet irradiation enhanced the auto‐oxidation of the composite. FTIR analyses of the composite indicated that TiO2 and PEO functioned as the initiator and accelerator of PP auto‐oxidation, respectively. In addition, even with 1% PEO, the accelerator effect was enhanced by the spreading of the degraded PEO component from other areas when the film thickness was increased. All PP/PEO/TiO2/FC composites with a PEO content varying from 0.3 to 5% showed a Young's modulus value of ∼ 180% higher than that of pristine PP. Biodegradability of the photodegraded composite was confirmed by a soil burial test. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013