Formulating PBS/PLA/PBAT blends for biodegradable, compostable packaging: The crucial roles of PBS content and reactive extrusion

The use of biodegradable polymers such as Poly (lactic acid) (PLA), Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), and Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is constantly increasing to try to substitute non-biodegradable plastics. Blending is a viable option to improve the morphology and the mechanical and heat resistance properties of biodegradable polymers. Thus, in this work, a biodegradable and compostable PLA/PBAT blend was improved by adding PBS, leading to non-reactive, melt-mixed PLA/PBAT/PBS ternary blends. The PLA/PBAT ratio was fixed at 1:1, while the PBS varied from 0-40 wt%. Polarized Light Optical Microscopy (PLOM) imaging showed that micro-spherulitic PBS was localized at the interface between PLA and PBAT in the blend, acting as a compatibilizer, reducing the interfacial tension and refining the ternary blend's morphology. Consequently, the mechanical properties improved, such as the elongation at break, which increased from 70 to 300 %. However, these tertiary non-reactive blends were found to lack adequate rheological properties to be processed by blown film extrusion. Therefore, reactive blending was performed by adding peroxide and carbodiimide, leading to a finer morphology and improved rheological properties. Thus, these reactive blends were successfully processed by blown film extrusion. Two types of blown films were produced, Tubular and Champagne films (DDR/BUR ratio of 37.6 and 5.2, respectively). Both types of blown films exhibited adequate ductile mechanical properties for film packaging applications, as well as high seal strength and good thermal resistance. In addition, their specific mechanical properties were a function of blend composition and the degree of biaxial orientation produced during the extrusion-blowing process.