Biodegradation and performance of poly(ɛ‐caprolactone)/macaíba biocomposites

Abstract Given the need to produce biodegradable materials, especially plastics that contribute to environmental pollution, in this work poly(ɛ‐caprolactone) (PCL) biocomposites were produced with 10%, 15%, and 20% by weight of macaíba fiber (MF) which was treated by toluene and by plasma, aiming at compounds production with high performance and biodegradability. Mechanical properties (impact, tensile, and flexion), differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric, water absorption, contact angle, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy analyses were evaluated. Biocomposites whose fibers were treated by plasma, displayed lower elastic modulus than PCL, the superficial fiber treatment by plasma removed the impurities keeping the oil that is an intrinsic characteristic of MF. Biodegradation tests performed according to ASTM G160‐03 showed that biocomposites with 20% of treated fiber lost approximately 20% of the weight after 90 days, which is equivalent to a 25% of biodegradation acceleration in relation to PCL. All biocomposites showed rough morphology, with the presence of cracks and pores due to the biodegradation action. These results showed that the treated MFs are a promising agent to accelerate PCL biodegradation while keeping reasonable performance. Summing up PCL/MF with 10% MF displayed the best performance and is feasible to be used as general good as well as biofilm application.