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The purpose of this study is to improve the mechanical properties of PBAT. Polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) has excellent biodegradability, which has been widely used in various fields, such as biomedical supplies, plastic packaging materials, industrial composting and daily sanitary consumables. However, the application of PBAT is limited by its high production costs and poor mechanical property. In this study, the glass fiber (GF)/PBAT composites were prepared, and the effect of GF and the modifiers on the structure, mechanical properties and shape memory properties of the composites were investigated.

In this work, GF, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) and chain extender ADR 4370 were selected as reinforcement, GF and chain extender, respectively. The GF/PBAT, KH550-modified GF/PBAT and ADR-modified GF/PBAT composites were prepared by melt blending, extrusion granulation and hot pressing.

The study showed that the fracture strength and elongation at break of PBAT decreased with the increasing of GF, and the decline is controlled after addition of KH550 and ADR 3470. When the GF content was low (such as 5 wt% and 10 wt%), KH550 significantly improved the mechanical properties of the composites. When the GF content was high (such as 20 wt% and 25 wt%), the mechanical properties of the composites were obviously improved by addition of ADR 3470. In addition, the shape memory fixity ratios (R_f) and shape memory recovery ratios (R_r) of the composites increased and decreased with increase of GF content, the prestrain and tensile temperature, respectively. Furthermore, the Rf of the KH550 modified GF/PBAT composites were the lowest, the Rr were the highest than that of the ADR modified GF/PBAT composites and the untreated GF/PBAT composites.

GF/PBAT composites exhibited good mechanical properties and low production costs. The research can help promote the widespread use of PBAT and alleviate the situation of serious plastic pollution.

A novel biodegradable GF/PBAT composite was developed by chain extender ADR 4370, incorporating environmentally friendly GF with excellent mechanical properties into PBAT.

The present work aims to prepare biocomposites blend based on linear low density polyethylene/ starch without using harmful chemicals to improve the adhesion between two phases. Also, the efficiency of essential oils as green plasticizers and natural antimicrobial agents were evaluated.

Barrier properties and biodegradation behavior of linear low density polyethylene/starch (LLDPE/starch) blends plasticized with different essential oils including moringa oleifera and castor oils wereassessed as a comparison with traditional plasticizer such as glycerol. Biodegradation behavior forLLDPE/starch blends was monitored by soil burial test. The composted samples were recovered then washed followed by drying, and weighting samples after 30, 60, and 90 days to assess the change in weight loss. Also, mechanical properties including retention values of tensile strength and elongation at break were measured before and after composting. Furthermore, scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to evaluate the change in the morphology of the polymeric blends. In addition to, the antimicrobial activity of plasticized LLDPE/starch blends films was evaluated using a standard plate counting technique.

The results illustrate that the water vapor transition rate increases from 2.5 g m⁻² 24 h⁻¹ for LLDPE/5starch to 4.21 g m⁻² 24 h⁻¹ and 4.43 g m⁻² 24 h⁻¹ for castor and moringa oleifera respectively. Also, the retained tensile strength values of all blends decrease gradually with increasing composting period. Unplasticized LLDPE/5starch showed highest tensile strength retention of 91.6% compared to the other blends that were 89.61, 88.49 and 86.91 for the plasticized LLDPE/5starch with glycerol, castor and M. oleifera oils respectively. As well as, the presence of essential oils in LLDPE/ starch blends increase the inhibition growth of escherichia coli, candida albicans and staphylococcus aureus.

The objective of this work is to develop cost-effective and environmentally-friendly methods for preparing biodegradable polymers suitable for packaging applications.