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Thermal analysis of soil-buried oxo-biodegradable polyethylene based blends

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Abstract

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) blended with poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and additivated with pro-oxidant were soil buried for 180 days and characterized using thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). TG data showed that both onset and maximum rate degradation temperatures decreased as a function of biodegradation time. Apparent activation energies (E a) using the Broido integral method decreased with the burial time increasing. PE crystallinity degree values increased in general up to 2 months of biodegradation. At the end of the soil burial (SB) test these values decreased principally for samples that were previously thermo-oxidized in an oven.

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Acknowledgements

The work was performed within the framework of GFP EC-Funded Project Polyver. COOP-CT-2006-032967.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Bioactive Polymeric Materials for Biomedical and Environmental Applications, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, Via Vecchia Livornese 1291, 56010, Pisa, Italy

    Sílvia Maria Martelli, Elizabeth Grillo Fernandes & Emo Chiellini

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  1. Sílvia Maria Martelli
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  2. Elizabeth Grillo Fernandes
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  3. Emo Chiellini
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Correspondence to Emo Chiellini.

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Martelli, S.M., Fernandes, E.G. & Chiellini, E. Thermal analysis of soil-buried oxo-biodegradable polyethylene based blends. J Therm Anal Calorim 97, 853–858 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-009-0355-2

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