Partial Biodegradable Blend with High Stability against Biodegradation for Fused Deposition Modeling

Area of Science:

• Polymer Science
• Materials Science
• Sustainable Materials

Background:

• Existing partial biodegradable blends often contain high levels of fossil fuel-based polymers (>20%), posing environmental concerns.
• Previous research on similar polymer systems lacked investigation into mechanical strength and biodegradation in vulnerable environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the biodegradability and mechanical stability of a novel partial biodegradable polymer blend composed of polylactic acid (PLA) and polypropylene (PP).
• To statistically analyze the blend's endurance against soil biodegradation using ANOVA, complementing thermochemical and visual analyses.

Main Methods:

• Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) for intermolecular interactions.
• Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for thermochemical properties.
• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for physical interlocking assessment.
• Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for statistical evaluation of biodegradation resistance.

Main Results:

• The blend demonstrated significant intermolecular interactions and thermochemical stability.
• SEM analysis confirmed effective physical interlocking within the polymer blend.
• ANOVA revealed high statistical significance in the blend's resistance to soil biodegradation.
• The blend exhibited high mechanical strength and substantial mass retention after biodegradation testing.

Conclusions:

• The developed PLA/PP blend shows remarkable stability against soil biodegradation.
• The blend's design, featuring physical interlocking and chemical grafting, contributes to its enhanced mechanical properties and environmental resilience.
• This research offers a promising, more eco-friendly material for large-scale fused deposition modeling (FDM) applications.