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Biobased, Biodegradable, and Functional Polymers in Agriculture and Food Science

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Circular and Green Polymer Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 May 2024) | Viewed by 2019

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
ESAN—School of Design, Management and Production Technologies Northern Aveiro, University of Aveiro, Estrada do Cercal 449, Oliveira de Azeméis, 3720-509 Santiago de Riba-Ul, Portugal
Interests: food; biomaterials; biobased; biodegradable; waste utilization and minimization in food industry; encapsulation; bioactive compounds; polymers; rheology; molding technology; 3D printing; nanoparticles; in vitro digestion

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Guest Editor
CICECO Aveiro—Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: additive manufacturing, biobased and biodegradable composites; biomaterials; bioproducts; glass; rheology; biofabrication; ceramics; T-RTM; selective laser melting; molding technology; 3D printing; nanoparticles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of fossil-fuel-based polymers is critical to the global economy, with 360–400 million metric tons of synthetic polymers being produced per year. Plastic materials are essential in our daily lives and its global production has increased exponentially since the 1950s due to their accessibility, light weight, relatively low price, durability, and excellent injection moldability. Despite its usefulness and benefits, less than 10% of the plastic produced is subjected to recycling processes, 78% is disposed of in landfills or leaks into the environment, and only 12% is sent to incineration, creating massive environmental pollution. The use of bio-based (produced from renewable resources) or biodegradable (subjected to microbial degradation under aerobic (composting) or anaerobic conditions) materials are sustainable alternatives to the petrochemical-based plastics to reduce the enormous volume of non-biodegradable plastic waste. The Special Issue of Polymers will focus on the latest research advances in the development, design, and manufacturing of novel functional polymers, as well as in the field of biodegradable/bio-based materials and their applications in agriculture and food science.

Dr. Loleny Tavares
Prof. Dr. José Martinho Marques de Oliveira
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • biodegradation
  • pollution
  • food packaging
  • bioproducts
  • bioplastics
  • biomaterials
  • environment sustainability
  • bioresource technology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 4645 KiB  
Article
Effect of Incorporation of Graphene Nanoplatelets on Physicochemical, Thermal, Rheological, and Mechanical Properties of Biobased and Biodegradable Blends
by Loleny Tavares, Liliana R. Sousa, Sara Magalhães da Silva, Paulo S. Lima and J. M. Oliveira
Polymers 2023, 15(17), 3622; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15173622 - 1 Sep 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1539
Abstract
This work aimed to study the effect of the incorporation of graphene nanoplatelets (GRA 0.5% and 1% (w/w)) on the matrices of biobased polymers composed of starch-based materials (B20) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) using pine rosin (RES) as a [...] Read more.
This work aimed to study the effect of the incorporation of graphene nanoplatelets (GRA 0.5% and 1% (w/w)) on the matrices of biobased polymers composed of starch-based materials (B20) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) using pine rosin (RES) as a compatibilizer. Three formulations were produced (B20/RES/PBS, B20/RES/PBS/GRA0.5%, and B20/RES/PBS/GRA1%), and their mechanical properties (tensile, flexural, hardness, and impact), rheological behavior, thermal properties (thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)), chemical analysis (Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy), and contact angle were evaluated. Hardness (Shore D), tensile, and flexural moduli increased, whereas elongation at break and toughness decreased as GRA content increased. FTIR studies strongly supported the existence of interactions between polymeric matrices and the large surface area of GRA. The viscosity flow curves were well fitted to the Cross-Williams-Landel-Ferry (Cross-WLF) model, and the three formulations exhibited non-Newtonian (shear-thinning) behavior. The analysis of water contact angles indicated that the formulation surfaces have hydrophilic behavior. All the samples are thermally stable, and the results of this study can be used to optimize the application of biobased graphene-based composites for applications in injection molding industries. Full article
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