Estudo da blenda PHB/NR e a influência dos aditivos de vulcanização

Abstract

Biodegradable polymers arises as an alternative for the accumulation of waste plastics in the environment. The polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is an option to replace plastic derived from fossil reserves, but there are factors that limit their use, as the high cost of production, and the fact that some of its properties, are below requirements for some applications. To improve his performance, it is propose the mechanical mixture of PHB with 5% of natural rubber and vulcanization additives. The specimens were obtained by extrusion followed by injection. The materials were characterized by tensile strength tests, impact resistance, thermal analysis and flow rate to check the physical and chemical changes that occur in PHB, due addition of these charges. The results show that the vulcanization additives add small increase in the tensile strength value, elongation at break and impact resistance to the blend, but it wasn’t possible to affirm the formation of crosslinking. The tensile test, the impact test and flow test indicate that PHB used for this work was already partially degraded.