Abstract
Biodegradable poly-[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-(R)-3-hydroxyhexanoates] (PHBHx) have been widely studied for their applications in potentially replacing petroleum-based thermoplastics. In this study, the effect of the high molecular weight (Mn = 3400) poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) blended in the films of PHBHx with different ratios of PEG was investigated using chemical FTIR imaging. Chemical IR images and FTIR spectra measured with increasing temperature revealed that PEG plays an important role in changing the kinetics of PHBHx crystallization. In addition, two-dimensional correlation spectra clearly showed that thermal properties of PHBHx/PEG blend film changed when the blending ratio of PHBHx/PEG were 60/40 and 50/50. Consequently, PEG leads to changes in the thermal behavior of PHBHx copolymers.
Highlights
Environmental pollution has been a serious issue over the last few decades
In our previous study [30], we reported the influence of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecular weight (Mn = 400, 1500, and 3400) on the thermal properties of poly-[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate–co
We discovered that a new amorphous band at 1744 cm−1, which corresponds to the amorphous mixture of PHBHx and PEG 400, was exhibited only in the
Summary
Environmental pollution has been a serious issue over the last few decades. Plastic pollution especially is a huge problem. Poly-[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) is one of the well-studied biodegradable polymers due to its potential to replace petroleum-based thermoplastics [5]. To improve the properties of PHB, many attempts have been studied by copolymerization [2,8,9,10,11,12] and blending [13,14,15] with the other polymers. In our previous study [30], we reported the influence of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecular weight (Mn = 400, 1500, and 3400) on the thermal properties of poly-[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate–co–. IR mapping was performed to examine the existence of domains in films of PHBHx/PEG (Mn = 3400) blends. Each chemical IR images of PHBHx/PEG with different blending ratios were obtained with different temperatures. The effect of PEG incorporation on PHBHx copolymers was investigated using temperature-dependent FTIR spectra and 2D-COS
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