Design and preparation of rapid full bio‐degradable plastic composites based on poly(butylene succinate)

Rapid full bio‐degradable plastic composites based on poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) were successfully designed and prepared. The bio‐degradation behavior of the composites was focused on. Results demonstrated that the polymer composites incorporated with starch exhibited a rapid biodegradability. Only after 5 months of biodegradation, the polymer composites with 40 and 50 wt% starch were fully pulverized in the soil. However, mechanical properties of composites were also seriously deteriorated. Theory calculations and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the reason is the poor interface adhesion between PBS and starch. To address this issue, maleic anhydride grafted PBS (PBS‐g‐MAH) was prepared to use as the polymer matrix. As expected, the good mechanical properties were obtained due to an excellent adhesion in the interface. For instance, the tensile strength was increased from 15.0 to 23.0 MPa, and the impact strength is enhanced from 6.5 kJ/m2 to 11.9 kJ/m2 when the amount of MAH and dicumyl peroxide were 2 and 0.2 wt%, respectively. In addition, the use of PBS‐g‐MAH further increased the biodegradation rate of the composites. The PBS‐g‐MAH/starch (60/40) composites were fully pulverized in soil only after 3 months of biodegradation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) also revealed the compatibilizing mechanism between PBS‐g‐MAH and starch was that MAH reacted with hydroxyl groups in the starch to produce the ester. As an attractive full biodegradable polymer, the low‐cost composites proposed here will have wide prospects of application in the near future. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E609–E619, 2018. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers