natural additives for poly (hydroxybutyrate – co - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as...

12
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1516-1439.235613 Materials Research. 2014; 17(5): 1145-1156 © 2014 *e-mail: [email protected] 1. Introduction Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) – PHB – is a well-known biologically derived and biodegradable polymer 1 . Since it can be produced from renewable resources, it has received increasing attention due to the potential applications such as in environment-friendly products, tissue engineering, and control release devices 2,3 . Nowadays, bacterial fermentation is the main source for PHB production. The process basically consists of two stages: a fermentative stage, in which the microorganisms are fed in reactors containing butyric acid or fructose, where they metabolize the sugar available and accumulate the PHB in the inner cell as a power supply source; and the extraction stage, where the polymer accumulated in the microorganism inner cell is removed and purified with adequate solvents until obtaining the final product, that is solid and dry 4 . However, the commercialization of these materials did not result in a major replacement of the conventional plastics because of the higher costs of PHB, its brittleness, and a narrow process window due to the lack of thermal stability. The PHB copolymer, i.e. poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co- 3-hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV – has been developed in an effort to improve its properties for industrial application. It is produced by a fermentative process similar to the PHB process, only differing in the use of propionic acid, together with glucose, as a carbon source. The amount of propionic acid that is found in the nourishment of the bacteria is responsible for the concentration of hydroxyvalerate (HV) in the copolymer. As HV content increases, T G , T M and crystallinity decrease, improving the processing and toughness in PHB 5 . By being thermoplastic, of renewable sources, biodegradable, compostable and biocompatible, PHB and PHBV are of great interest in the production of fast usage products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile industry products, among others. To be suitable for these industrial applications, however, PHB and PHBV should be processed in large scale, mostly by melt processing techniques such as extrusion and/or injection. In this case, the polymeric chains are submitted not only to high temperatures, but also to shearing tension, which may lead to a scission on the polymeric chain, causing reduction in the molar mass and characterizing a further degradation 6 . Incorporation of additives is another resource to modify some polymer properties in order to achieve better processing or to adjust their mechanical and thermal behavior. However, when dealing with biodegradable polymers, it is preferable that these additives are biodegradable as well. Indeed, some authors have reported the use of soybean oil 7 , β-carotene 8 Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - Hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV: Effect on Mechanical Properties and Biodegradation Daiane Gomes Brunel a , Wagner Maurício Pachekoski b *, Carla Dalmolin c , José Augusto Marcondes Agnelli a a Departamento de Engenharia de Materiais, Universidade Federal de São Carlos – UFSCar, Rod. Washington Luis, Km 235, CEP 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brasil b Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – UFSC, Campus Joinville, Rua Presidente Prudente de Moraes, 406, CEP 89218-000, Joinville, SC, Brasil c Departamento de Química, Centro de Ciências Tecnológicas – CCT, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina – UDESC, Rua Paulo Malschitzki, s/n, Campus Universitário Prof. Avelino Marcante, CEP 89219-710, Joinville, SC, Brasil Received: August 28, 2013; Revised: August 21, 2014 In this work, the improvement of mechanical properties in biodegradable materials was obtained through the incorporation of natural and also biodegradable plasticizers and nucleation agents into the PHBV copolymer. PHBV production with different quantities of additives was obtained by extrusion followed by injection. The additives in the copolymer were efficient, resulting in an adequate processing due to the presence of nucleate and an improvement of the mechanical properties of the resulting material provided by the action of the plasticizer. The formulation with the minimum amount of additive content, 5% epoxidized cottonseed oil and 0.1% Licowax, was the most effective showing 35% reduction in the elastic modulus, and 18% in the PHBV crystallinity; 58% increase in impact resistance and 46% increase in elongation. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that the natural additives were very efficient for biodegradation, showing a mass loss higher of pure PHBV. Keywords: poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate), PHBV, biodegradable polymers, additives, mechanical properties

Upload: others

Post on 25-Aug-2020

1 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1516-1439.235613Materials Research. 2014; 17(5): 1145-1156 © 2014

*e-mail: [email protected]

1. IntroductionPoly (3-hydroxybutyrate) – PHB – is a well-known

biologically derived and biodegradable polymer1. Since it can be produced from renewable resources, it has received increasing attention due to the potential applications such as in environment-friendly products, tissue engineering, and control release devices2,3. Nowadays, bacterial fermentation is the main source for PHB production. The process basically consists of two stages: a fermentative stage, in which the microorganisms are fed in reactors containing butyric acid or fructose, where they metabolize the sugar available and accumulate the PHB in the inner cell as a power supply source; and the extraction stage, where the polymer accumulated in the microorganism inner cell is removed and purified with adequate solvents until obtaining the final product, that is solid and dry4. However, the commercialization of these materials did not result in a major replacement of the conventional plastics because of the higher costs of PHB, its brittleness, and a narrow process window due to the lack of thermal stability. The PHB copolymer, i.e. poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV – has been developed in an effort to improve its properties for industrial application. It is produced by a fermentative process similar to the PHB process, only differing in the use of propionic acid, together

with glucose, as a carbon source. The amount of propionic acid that is found in the nourishment of the bacteria is responsible for the concentration of hydroxyvalerate (HV) in the copolymer. As HV content increases, Tg, TM and crystallinity decrease, improving the processing and toughness in PHB5.

By being thermoplastic, of renewable sources, biodegradable, compostable and biocompatible, PHB and PHBV are of great interest in the production of fast usage products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile industry products, among others. To be suitable for these industrial applications, however, PHB and PHBV should be processed in large scale, mostly by melt processing techniques such as extrusion and/or injection. In this case, the polymeric chains are submitted not only to high temperatures, but also to shearing tension, which may lead to a scission on the polymeric chain, causing reduction in the molar mass and characterizing a further degradation6. Incorporation of additives is another resource to modify some polymer properties in order to achieve better processing or to adjust their mechanical and thermal behavior. However, when dealing with biodegradable polymers, it is preferable that these additives are biodegradable as well. Indeed, some authors have reported the use of soybean oil7, β-carotene8

Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - Hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV: Effect on Mechanical Properties and Biodegradation

Daiane Gomes Brunela, Wagner Maurício Pachekoskib*, Carla Dalmolinc,

José Augusto Marcondes Agnellia

aDepartamento de Engenharia de Materiais, Universidade Federal de São Carlos – UFSCar, Rod. Washington Luis, Km 235, CEP 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brasil

bUniversidade Federal de Santa Catarina – UFSC, Campus Joinville, Rua Presidente Prudente de Moraes, 406, CEP 89218-000, Joinville, SC, Brasil

cDepartamento de Química, Centro de Ciências Tecnológicas – CCT, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina – UDESC, Rua Paulo Malschitzki, s/n, Campus Universitário Prof. Avelino Marcante,

CEP 89219-710, Joinville, SC, Brasil

Received: August 28, 2013; Revised: August 21, 2014

In this work, the improvement of mechanical properties in biodegradable materials was obtained through the incorporation of natural and also biodegradable plasticizers and nucleation agents into the PHBV copolymer. PHBV production with different quantities of additives was obtained by extrusion followed by injection. The additives in the copolymer were efficient, resulting in an adequate processing due to the presence of nucleate and an improvement of the mechanical properties of the resulting material provided by the action of the plasticizer. The formulation with the minimum amount of additive content, 5% epoxidized cottonseed oil and 0.1% Licowax, was the most effective showing 35% reduction in the elastic modulus, and 18% in the PHBV crystallinity; 58% increase in impact resistance and 46% increase in elongation. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that the natural additives were very efficient for biodegradation, showing a mass loss higher of pure PHBV.

Keywords: poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate), PHBV, biodegradable polymers, additives, mechanical properties

Page 2: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

Brunel et al.1146 Materials Research

and low molecular weight additives9 as plasticizing agents for PHB and PHBV in order to improve their mechanical properties for industrial applications. Other approaches also include the use of nucleating agents and compatibilizers to accelerate the crystallization process and refine morphology and thermal stabilizers, also known as antioxidants, which can prevent various effects such as oxidation, chain scission and uncontrolled recombination that may occur during the process10.

Among various natural biodegradable additives, an epoxidized cottonseed oil plasticizer and a nucleate based on fatty acids were efficient in the improvement of processing by extrusion and injection. Futhermore, the mechanical properties and biodegradation increased when they were mixed together in a PHBV formulation11. However, optimized results still can be obtained through the study of the influence of both plasticizer and nucleating agent when their contents inside the formulation are changed. Therefore, different PHBV formulations with an epoxidized cottonseed oil as the plasticizer and a nucleate based on fatty acids were processed by both extrusion and injection to result in materials with adequate mechanical properties for industrial usage and composition with approximately 100% weight in biodegradable materials. To evaluate the better composition and the effect of additives in PHBV properties, specimens with different formulations were tested by mechanical, thermal, microscopy and biodegradation analysis.

2. ExperimentalPHBV – ( of 650,000 g/mol; 3.5% HV, 1.22 g/cm3) was

manufactured by biological fermentation from renewable sugarcane carbohydrate at PHB Industrial S/A. P902 (Logos Química Ltda), an epoxidized cottonseed oil, was chosen as the plasticizing agent, and the nucleating agent was the fatty acid based compound Licowax (Clariant). Contents of plasticizer (P) and nucleate (N) are listed in Table 1 for all formulations in this study. To guarantee the homogeneity between both powder PHBV and liquid plasticizer, the different blends were mixed into a Henschel blender for 10 minutes, with 450 rpm rotation. These compounds were dried in an air circulation oven (Soc. Fabbe 170) at 60°C for 24h. The different amounts of nucleating agents were manually blended. The pure copolymer and the different formulations described in Table 1 were processed in a DC-R 30:40 IF Imacom co-rotational double screw

thread extruder. Next, the pelletized formulations were dried in an oven at 60°C for 24h. The injection of impact and tension specimen according to ASTM D-638[12] and D-256 standards13 was carried out in a 270V 300-120 Arburg All Rounder injector, with 12 cm3/s flow and 20 cm/s injection speed.

An Instron 5569 Universal Test Machine, in ASTM D-638 standard12, with a 10 mm clutch gap, 5 mm/min speed and 50 kN load cell was used to measure mechanical properties (Young’s modulus, stress and elongation at break). The notched Izod impact test was carried out in a 65451000 code CEAST Impact Machine, with a 2 J pendulum, under controlled temperature, according to ASTM D-256 standard13. All procedures were done in triplicate, three days after processing.

The thermo gravimetric (TG) and the derived thermo gravimetric (DTG) curves were obtained in a TA Instrument TGA2950 at a 20°C.min–1 heating rate between room temperature (23°C) and 600°C, under N2 atmosphere (50 mL/min) in an alumina sample rest. A TA Instruments DSC Q100 calorimeter was used for the DSC characterization ranging from –50 to 200°C at both a heating and cooling rate of 20°C.min–1, under N2 atmosphere. The PHBV crystallinity was calculated by dividing the heat of fusion of each sample (ΔHM) and the heat of fusion of the hypothetically 100% crystalline PHB, determined as 146 J/g[14].

The influence of nucleating agent contents in the spherulites growth rate in relation to temperature was studied by optical microscopy with polarized light, using a heating plate. The optical microscope used had a DMRXP Leica polarized light and a KAPPA webcam coupled to a computer with software for capturing images. To get the experiments into controlled temperatures, a THMS 600 Linkan heating plate was used, monitored by a TMS92 Linkan temperature controller. The samples were heated at 50°C.min–1 up to 190°C and were kept at this temperature for 3 minutes to guarantee the complete fusion of the spherulites, destroying the previous thermal history, but paying attention not to initiate a possible thermal degradation process. Subsequently, the samples were cooled down at 100°C.min–1, up to the isothermal crystallization temperature (60°C, 70°C, 80°C, and 90°C), and were kept there for 20 minutes.

To evaluate the biodegradation of the processed copolymer, the Sturm methodology was used, which is considered the most trustable for the evaluation of polymer biodegradability in active microbial medium15,16. This methodology consists of embedding the test specimen in an activated organic compound and evaluating its biodegradation through the mass loss and the modification in its visual aspect. In this study, the test was carried out in a Compound Organic Fertilizer (40% minimum organic matter, 45% maximum humidity, pH 6 and 18/1 maximum C/N ratio), supplied by PROVASO, under room temperature and controlled humidity, according to ASTM D-6003[17] and ASTM G-160 standards18. Three distinct systems were prepared for withdrawing after 60, 120 and 180 days of test. Each sample system was formed by 5 tension specimens for each compound. Besides the mass loss after the biodegradable tests, samples were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) (Stereoscan 440), and the

Table 1. Nucleating agent and plasticizer contents used in all formulations.

Formulation Plasticizer (% mass) Nucleate (% mass)PHBV 0 05P01N 5 0.15P03N 5 0.35P05N 5 0.57P01N 7 0.17P03N 7 0.37P05N 7 0.510P01N 10 0.110P03N 10 0.310P05N 10 0.5

Page 3: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

2014; 17(5) 1147Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - Hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV:

Effect on Mechanical Properties and Biodegradation

modification of the mechanical properties was evaluated by mechanical tests.

3. Results and DiscussionDuring the extrusion, pure PHBV had high cast viscosity

and slow extruded crystallization, characteristics that resulted in higher pelletizing difficulties. The formulations with additives were easier to processing, because the joint action between the plasticizer and the nucleate resulted in a more stable extrusion. The larger the amount of nucleating agent content in the formulation, the faster the extruded

filament became rigid, showing good stability during extrusion. The temperature profile was similar for the pure copolymer and also for the additive formulations; however, less darkening in the compounds with additives (Figure 1) was observed, suggesting a lower thermal degradation. In the injection mold, where the same conditions were used in the processing of all formulations, it was observed that the higher the percentage of nucleate in the formulation, the more pressure in injection was necessary. The formulations with 0.5% nucleate, by crystallizing faster than the others, did not show homogeneity in the filling of the mold cavities, with constant failure in the injected specimen.

Figure 1. Aspect of the pellets produced by extrusion of a) pure PHBV and b) PHBV with additives.

Figure 2. Stress-strain curves with a variation of the plasticizer content and nucleating contents equal to a) 0.1%; b) 0.3%; and c) 0.5%.

Page 4: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

Brunel et al.1148 Materials Research

3.1. Mechanical testsFigures 2a-c shows the PHBV copolymer stress-strain

curves compared to the additive formulations with 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5% nucleate contents and varied plasticizer contents. All the additive formulations showed lower stress in the rupture, lower elastic modulus and higher deformation if compared to the formulation without additives, indicating the effectiveness of the plasticizer in reducing rigidity and fragility of the copolymer, according to the values presented in Table 2. Comparing the results of additive formulations, it is observed that maintaining the concentration of the plasticizer constant, the increase in the nucleate content causes a reduction of strain in the rupture. Moreover, this effect is minimized when the nucleate and plasticizer contents increase. It is verified that the formulation with a minimum amount of nucleate and plasticizer (5P01N) showed a reduction of PHBV’s stiffness together with a higher tensile strength, implying an improvement of its mechanical properties.

According to Table 2, the formulation with pure copolymer had the lowest impact resistance of all tested formulations. These results also showed that the PHBV impact resistance rose up to 60% due to the presence of additives; however, it was observed that increasing the quantity of the nucleating agent and/or the plasticizer content caused a reduction of the measured impact resistance. The same performance was observed in the stress and strain in rupture, where the most efficient formulation was that with the lower concentration of plasticizer and nucleates, 5P01N.

3.2. Thermal analysisPure PHBV and other additive formulations were

submitted to DSC thermal analysis with the purpose of verifying the alterations in transition temperatures caused by the different tested additive contents. The DSC curves referent to the second heating run for pure PHBV compared with the curves for formulations with 0.1%, 0.3%, or 0.5% of nucleate and varied plasticizer contents are presented in Figures 3a-c. It can be observed that all formulations showed two melting temperatures. The first and lower temperature, characterized by a small peak in the DSC curve, corresponds to the melting of the crystalline poly (hydroxyvalerate), while the second temperature corresponds to the melting of the poly(hydroxybutyrate)19,20. Lower melting temperatures

were observed for the additive formulations when compared to the pure PHBV; however, the increase of the percentage of plasticizer and nucleate did not have a significant influence in this variation.

The values of the thermal properties (Tg – glass transition; Tcc – cold crystallization; Tm – melting point; and crystalline degree) obtained by DSC during the second heating run are found in Table 3. It was observed that Tg was reduced with the increase of the plasticizer content and, in general, the increase of the amount of nucleate in the formulation restricted this effect. In general, the additive formulations differed from the pure PHBV with the displacement of Tg, Tcc and Tm down to lower temperatures. In the formulations with 0.1% nucleate, it can be noted that with the increase in the plasticizer content, there was a gradual reduction of the melting, crystal and vitreous transition temperatures. In compounds with 0.3% nucleate, the increase of plasticizer from 5% to 7% significantly reduced the temperatures; however, the increase from 7% to 10% shows a similarity of curves, which means that the addition of more plasticizer did not reduce the temperature any more. This behavior suggests a possible exudation of the plasticizer. The formulations with plasticizer and 0.5% nucleate had analogous behavior.

It can be observed an important reduction in the Tcc of the additive formulations when compared with pure PHBV (from 68°C to 36-40°C). This reduction causes a delay on the melting stiffness and, consequently, increases the time needed for the cooling and molding releasing steps. This effect explains the difficulty found during the processing for the injection of the compositions with high additive contents. Also, the presence of additives in the formulation made the PHBV crystallization more difficult, reducing its crystallinity. The increase in the nucleating content did not cause an increase in crystallinity.

PHBV based materials were examined by TGA combined to its first derivative (DTGA) to access their thermal degradation data in order to verify the efficacy of the addition of plasticizer in copolymer thermal stability. The onset decomposition temperature (TD) was defined as that corresponding to 2% weight loss due to degradation; and peak decomposition temperature (TP) was obtained from the maximum amount of DTGA. Table 4 summarizes the events observed, initial decomposition temperature (Ti), TD,

Table 2. Mechanical properties of the formulations mentioned in Table 1.

Formulation Stress in the rupture (MPa)

Strain in the rupture (%)

Elasticity module (GPa)

Notched impact resistance (J/m)

PHBV 31.7 ± 0.5 4.6 ± 0.4 2.0 ± 0.04 25.6 ± 0.75P01N 27.3 ± 0.1 8.5 ± 0.4 1.3 ± 0.01 61.3 ± 2.15P03N 25.7 ± 1.8 6.6 ± 1.9 1.4 ± 0.05 56.3 ± 3.15P05N 25.8 ± 0.4 6.0 ± 0.3 1.5 ± 0.04 51.7 ± 2.77P01N 24.9 ± 0.1 7.1 ± 0.4 1.3 ± 0.03 56.5 ± 2.07P03N 24.3 ± 0.2 6.3 ± 0.3 1.4 ± 0.02 45.8 ± 1.37P05N 24.4 ± 0.2 5.9 ± 0.5 1.5 ± 0.08 36.5 ± 1.710P01N 22.6 ± 0.2 6.6 ± 0.3 1.3 ± 0.04 42.3 ± 0.910P03N 23.0 ± 0.2 6.3 ± 0.2 1.3 ± 0.04 36.0 ± 3.510P05N 24.0 ± 10.1 5.8 ± 0.4 1.3 ± 0.03 32.3 ± 1.8

Page 5: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

2014; 17(5) 1149Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - Hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV:

Effect on Mechanical Properties and Biodegradation

TP, the organic material content, determined as the mass loss from 25°C up to 600°C, and stable residue content at 600°C.

For the pure copolymer sample, there was a standard mass loss that occurs in a single stage and in a narrow temperature range, initially with 263°C and ending with a final decomposition temperature of approximately 315°C. If compared to the main range of PHB decomposition (from 220°C to 250°C)[10], it can be noted that although the PHBV

decomposition range is also narrow, the copolymer has more thermal stability, characterized by the major temperatures presented. The additive formulations showed a minor mass loss corresponding to the additive decomposition, which occurs before the PHBV continuous mass loss. The 5P01N formulation shows a 5% mass loss, from 179°C up to approximately 280°C, related to the amount of plasticizer in the formulation. The 7P01N formulation lost the equivalent

Figure 3. DSC curves for the PHBV second heating with a variation in the plasticizer content and in the nucleate contents that are equal to a) 0.1%; b) 0.3%; and c) 0.5%.

Table 3. Thermal properties obtained by DSC from different formulations of pure PHBV and PHBV with additives.

Formulation Tg (ºC) Tm1 (ºC) Tm2 (ºC) Tcc (ºC) *Crystalline Degree

PHBV 2.6 155 169 68 46.35P01N –7.8 152 165 40 38.15P03N –6.4 154 167 43 36.85P05N –8.4 153 165 42 39.37P01N –9.3 150 164 38 44.77P03N –9.1 150 164 37 35.87P05N –8.6 152 165 38 37.3

10P01N –10.1 150 163 37 37.110P03N –8.9 150 164 36 37.610P05N –8.6 151 165 36 36.1

*Calculus of crystalline degree considering, exclusively, the copolymer mass.

Page 6: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

Brunel et al.1150 Materials Research

of 5% additives, while for the 10P01N sample, this loss was around 7%. This reduction in the amount of additives in each formulation indicates the exudation (or migration to the surface) of the plasticizer after the process. It is probable that the addition of the PHBV with the P-902 plasticizer is viable up to 6% additive, which would explain why the incorporation of more plasticizer to PHBV did not improve the mechanical properties of the formulations.

The temperature where the decomposition rate is at maximum stage varied with the formulations: the PHBV copolymer had a 303°C decomposition peak temperature; the 7P01N and 10P01N formulations were less stable, showing the lowest temperatures, 275°C and 281°C, respectively. It was observed that the 5P01N blend was the formulation with the greatest thermal stability, because the greatest decomposition rate occurred in the highest temperature (306°C), in which the effective mass loss starts at approximately 30°C, being above the other formulations.

3.3. Polarized Light Optical Microscopy (PLOM)The effect of additives to the nucleating agent in

the crystalline morphology of pure PHBV and PHBV compositions with 5% of plasticizer was studied through Polarized Light Optical Microscopy (PLOM). Figure 4 presents the PLOM images for isothermal crystallization at 60ºC. The first image corresponds to the isotherm initial time, while the second shows the morphology after 20 minutes of crystallization. In the images of the first column, small spherulites that grew from stable nuclei (non-visible) can be seen. At this temperature, the effect of the nucleating agent with additives in the formulations is expected and desired, i.e., it has a large amount of stable nuclei, resulting in smaller sizes of spherulites and more even distribution when compared to the pure copolymer. The formulation with the highest concentration of nucleate showed a more refined structure, suggesting that under these conditions the 5P05N formulation would have the best mechanical properties. On the other hand, at higher temperatures (80°C and 90°C), the formulations with additives had a lower amount of stable nuclei if compared to the pure formulation, indicating that under these temperatures no nucleating effect of Licowax occurred. At the same time, there was an effect of the plasticizer in restraining the formation of these nuclei. Comparing the images based on the crystallization temperature for each formulation, it is clear that the number of visible stable nuclei was reduced with the increase in the temperature, suggesting that under the PHBV melting temperature, Licowax also reached fusion.

Figure 5 presents the rate of spherulite formation for each isothermal crystallization temperature (60°C, 70°C, 80°C and 90°C) studied, obtained through the measurement of spherulite radius according to time. Immediately, it is verified that, for all formulations, the maximum increase rate occurred at 80ºC, as already reported in other works21. It is also noted that the formulations with additives presented almost the same increase on the spherulite growth rate, superior than pure PHBV. The faster spherulite growth rate indicated that the additives had an effect on the PHBV crystallization kinetics. However, from these results, it can be attested that the formulations with Licowax were not so efficient in relation to the refining of the crystalline structure. The reduction of stable nuclei in the formulations with additives shows that this additive did not perform as a classical nucleating agent, a characteristic previously observed through DSC thermal analysis11. Nevertheless, the efficient crystallization provoked by the presence of Licowax is noticed in the performance presented by the formulations containing this additive in relation to the mechanical properties.

3.4. Biodegradability evaluationTest specimens of pure PHBV and PHBV with

additives were exposed to biodegradation during 60, 120 and 180 days of organic compound, according to the Sturm methodology15,16. Five test specimens for each formulation were weighed before being submitted to testing for subsequent calculation of their mass loss. These results are presented in Figure 6. In general, it was observed that the longer the test specimen exposure time in organic compound, the greater was the mass loss presented by them. The additive formulation had a greater mass loss than the pure copolymer, indicating that the chosen additives (P902 and Licowax) did not affect the polymer biodegradation, inclusively, accelerating the PHBV microbiological degradation. Given this finding, it is possible to affirm that the additives used in this work can accelerate PHBV biodegradation, probably due to the reduction of its crystallinity. Considering pure PHB biodegradation studies16,21, it showed approximately 5% mass loss after 180 days, a value very close to the result reached in this work for PHBV without additives. Calculating the mass variation for each formulation in each removal (mf - mi) by the number of test days, it was possible to come to an average biodegradation rate of 3.4 mg/day and 8.7 mg/day for the pure PHBV and the PHBV with additive, respectively.

The presence of additives in PHBV resulted in an increase of approximately 5% in the result of the mass

Table 4. Thermal events observed during the thermogravimetric analysis of pure PHBV and the formulations with 0.1% nucleate with different plasticizer contents.

Formulation Ti (°C) TD (°C) TP (°C) Organic material (%)

Residues%)

PHBV 263 284 303 99.6 0.45P01N 179 285 306 99.5 0.57P01N 164 261 275 98.5 1.510P01N 166 270 281 98.8 1.2

Page 7: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

2014; 17(5) 1151Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - Hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV:

Effect on Mechanical Properties and Biodegradation

Figure 4. PLOM images (100x) in the initial (left) and final (right) times for each formulation, in the isothermal crystallization temperature of: a) 60°C; b) 80°C; and c) 90°C.

loss after biodegradation tests. The visual aspect of these biodegradable samples, presented in Figure 7, shows more evident alterations in the surface of the copolymer with additive.

In order to verify changes in the mechanical properties of the biodegraded specimen tests, stress in the rupture

results are shown in Table 5. There was a gradual decrease in the mechanical properties with the increasing time of biodegradation. As we know, the microbiological attack occurs, initially, in the polymer amorphous phase with the production of small “blanks” that contribute to the breaking of the material with little or no deformation22,23. It

Page 8: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

Brunel et al.1152 Materials Research

Figure 4. Continued...

Page 9: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

2014; 17(5) 1153Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - Hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV:

Effect on Mechanical Properties and Biodegradation

Figure 4. Continued...

Page 10: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

Brunel et al.1154 Materials Research

Figure 5. Rate of spherulites formation for each isothermal crystallization temperature (60°C, 70°C, 80°C and 90°C).

Figure 6. Test specimen mass loss percentage submitted to biodegradation tests by 60, 120 and 180 days.

Figure 7. Visual aspect of pure PHBV and additive PHBV samples after biodegradation tests.

Page 11: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

2014; 17(5) 1155Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - Hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV:

Effect on Mechanical Properties and Biodegradation

was observed that the formulation with additives suffered greater damage in the tensile mechanical properties than PHBV, which makes sense, since this formulation shows greater mass loss than the pure copolymer. Figure 8 presents the photomicrographs of pure PHBV and additive PHBV before and after biodegradation tests, where the structural changes that resulted from the attack of microorganisms are evident.

4. ConclusionsIn general, the addition of PHBV copolymer with the

plasticizer P-902 and the nucleating Licowax with different contents resulted in an improvement in the properties of the pure copolymer, characterized by the reduction of rigidity. Nevertheless, the increase in the amount of additives in the formulations did not make them more efficient. The increase in the nucleating content served as an inhibitor of the

plasticizer action. The increase in the plasticizer percentage was not proportional to the increase of the properties due to its migration to the surface. The formulation with the minimum amount of additive content, 5% P-902 and 0.1% Licowax, was the most effective in adding additives, with the best results: 35% reduction in the elastic constant, and 18% in the PHBV crystalline degree; and also 58% increase in impact resistance and 46% increase in elongation. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that the use of lower additive content has an effect on the lower cost in the final product.

AcknowledgementsThe authors gratefully acknowledge PHB Industrial S/A,

and PHBV supply; and also the Brazilian research funding agencies CAPES and CNPq for the financial support and the scholarships.

Table 5. Stress in the rupture (MPa) of pure and additive PHBV during the different times of biodegradation.

FormulationDays of Biodegradation in organic compound

0 60 120 180 PHBV 36.0 ± 0.3 34.7 ± 1.0 31.8 ± 1.3 29.6 ± 1.05P01N 27.3 ± 0.4 23.9 ± 0.7 20.8 ± 1.5 18.6 ± 1.5

Figure 8. Photomicrographs (1000x resolution) of pure PHBV (left) and additive PHBV (right) before and after 180 days of biodegradation test.

Page 12: Natural Additives for Poly (Hydroxybutyrate – CO - … · 2018. 5. 27. · products, such as disposable materials, packages, medical artifacts for human or veterinary, automobile

Brunel et al.1156 Materials Research

References1. Avella M, Martuscelli E and Raimo M. Properties of blends

and composites based on poly(3-hydroxy)butyrate (PHB) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) copolymers. Journal of Materials Science. 2000; 35(3):523-545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1004740522751.

2. Sudesh K, Abe H and Doi Y. Synthesis, structure and properties of poly-hydroxyalkanoates: biological polyesters. Progress in Polymer Science. 2000; 25(10):1503-1555. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6700(00)00035-6.

3. Kuppan P, Vasanthan KS, Sundaramurthi D, Krishnan UM and Sethuraman S. Development of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) fibers for skin tissue engineering: effects of topography, mechanical, and chemical stimuli. Biomacromolecules. 2011; 12(9):3156-3165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bm200618w. PMid:21800891

4. Sharma R and Ray AR. Polyhydroxybutyrate, its copolymers and blends. Journal of Macromolecular Science-Reviews in Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics. 1995; C35(2):327-359.

5. Yamada S, Wang Y, Asakawa N, Yoshie N and Inoue Y. Crystalline Structural Change of Bacterial Poly (3 – hydroxybutyrate – co – 3 - hydroxyvalerate) with Narrow Compositional Distribution. Macromolecules. 2001; 34(13):4659-4661. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ma002120x.

6. Pachekoski WM, Dalmolin C and Agnelli JAM. The influence of the industrial processing on the degradation of poly(hydroxybutyrate) – PHB. Materials Research. 2013; 16(2):237-332. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-14392012005000180.

7. Choi JS and Park WH. Effect of biodegradable plasticizers on thermal and mechanical properties of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate). Polymer Testing. 2004; 23(4):455-460. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2003.09.005.

8. López-Rubio A and Lagaron JM. Improvement of UV stability and mechanical properties of biopolyesters through the addition of β-carotene. Polymer Degradation & Stability. 2010; 95(11):2162-2168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2010.03.002.

9. Yoshie N, Nakasato K, Fujiwara M, Kasuya K, Abe H, Doi Y, et al. Effect of low molecular weight additives on enzymatic degradation of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate). Polymer. 2000; 41(9):3227-3234. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0032-3861(99)00547-9.

10. Jiang L, Huang J, Qian J, Chen F, Zhang J, Wolcott MP, et al. Study of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)/Bamboo Pulp Fiber Composites: Effects of Nucleation Agent and Compatibilizer. Journal of Polymers and the Environment. 2008; 16(2):83-93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10924-008-0086-7.

11. Brunel DG. Influência da incorporação de aditivos nas propriedades do poli(hidroxibutirato-co-hidroxivalerato) - PHBV. [Dissertação]. São Carlos: Universidade Federal de São Carlos; 2008.

12. American Society for Testing and Materials – ASTM. D0638: Standard test method for tensile properties of plastics. West

Conshohocken: ASTM International; 2010. Book of Standards v. 08.01. http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/D0638-10.

13. American Society for Testing and Materials – ASTM. D0256: Standard test methods for determining the izod pendulum impact resistance of plastics. West Conshohocken: ASTM International; 2012. Book of Standards v. 08.01. http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/D0256-10.

14. Barham PJ and Keller A. The relationship between microstructure and mode of fracture in polyhydroxybutyrate. Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry. 1985; 24:69-77.

15. Calil MR, Gaboardi F, Guedes CGF and Rosa DS. Comparison of the biodegradation of poly(ε-caprolactone), cellulose acetate and their blends by the Sturm test and selected cultured fungi. Polymer Testing. 2006; 25(5):597-604. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2006.01.019.

16. Rosa DS, Chui QSH, Pantano Filho R and Agnelli JAM. Avaliação da biodegradação de poli-β-(hidroxibutirato), poli-β-(hidroxibutirato-co-valerato) e poli-ε-(caprolactona) em solo compostado. Polímeros: Ciência e Tecnologia. 2002; 12(4):311-317. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0104-14282002000400015.

17. American Society for Testing and Materials – ASTM. D6003: Standard test method for determining weight loss from plastic materials exposed to simulated municipal solid-waste (MSW) aerobic compost environment (Withdrawn 2005). West Conshohocken: ASTM International; 1996. http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/D6003-96.

18. American Society for Testing and Materials – ASTM. G0160: Standard practice for evaluating microbial susceptibility of nonmetallic materials by laboratory soil burial. West Conshohocken: ASTM International; 2012. Book of Standards v. 14.04. http://dx.doi.org/10.1520/G0160-12.

19. Martelli SM, Sabirova J, Fakhoury FM, Dysma A, Meyer B and Soetaert W. Obtention and characterization of poly(3-hydroxybutyriacid-co-hydroxyvaleric acid)/mcd-PHA based blends. LWT – Food Science and Technology. 2012; 47:386-392.

20. Dagnon KL, Chen HH, Innocentini-Mei LH and D’Souza NA. Poly[(3-hydroxybutyrate)-co-(3-hydroxyvalerate)/layered double hydroxyde nanocomposites. Polymer International. 2009; 58(2):133-141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pi.2503.

21. Falcone DMB and Agnelli JAM. Influência da incorporação de agentes nucleantes nas propriedades térmicas e mecânicas de blendas PHB/EVA - poli(hidroxibutirato)/copolímero etileno – co – acetato de vinila. In: Anais do IX Congresso Brasileiro de Polímeros; Campina Grande. Campina Grande: Associação Brasileira de Polímeros; 2007.

22. Lendlein A. and Sisson A, editor. Handbook of biodegradable polymers: synthesis, characterization and applications. New York: Wiley-VCH; 2011. 426 p. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9783527635818.

23. Chen GGQ, editor. Plastics from bacteria: natural functions and applications. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg Publisher; 2010. 453 p. Microbiology Monographs 14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03287-5.