Recyclability of poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBH) for food packaging applications

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Food Packaging and Shelf Life

Publication Date

12-1-2023

Abstract

This study is the first to investigate the recyclability of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBH), a small chain length PHA, and evaluate the gas barrier properties of the recycled materials. A recycling simulation of PHBH was performed through five twin-screw extrusion cycles. Although the onset degradation temperature and the chemical structure of the processed PHBH remained stable, size exclusion chromatography and melt flow index revealed a drop of 24.3% in the molar mass of the recycled materials. However, the recycled samples showed higher impact strength and, therefore, are less brittle and more elastic. Gas barrier properties of PHBH were found to enhance after the first recycling step. A significant decrease in both permeability and diffusion coefficients was observed after the first extrusion cycle. At the same time, the calculated mean integral diffusion coefficient as well as the plasticization factor (γCeq) demonstrate a weak water plasticization effect for recycled materials.

ISSN

2214-2894

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Volume

40

Disciplines

Engineering

Keywords

Bio-based polymers, Extrusion, Food packaging, Gas barrier properties, Mechanical recycling, PHBH

Scopus ID

85171683416

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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