Growing environmental concerns associated with the production and disposal of traditional plastics, the depletion of non-renewable fossil resources, as well as pollution of landfills and the oceans have motivated researchers to pursue alternatives to petroleum-based materials. To this end, our research investigates pathways of replacing large-scale, non-biodegradable commodity plastics with naturally derived, biodegradable polymers. Specifically, our study employs a plant-derived monomer stemming from high oleic soybean oil (HOSBM) and Myrcene to produce a  biodegradable copolymer via free radical copolymerization. The copolymer (HOSBM-Myrcene) is synthesized at (90-10) wt/wt loadings of HOSBM and Myrcene, respectiely, with an average molecular weight of ~30,000 g/mol and relatively low polydispersity.  The compatibility of HOSBM-Myrcene with a, likewise bioderived, biodegradable matrix polymer, Poly(Lactic acid) is investigated via blending as the HOSBM-Myrcene (90-10) addition is varied between 2.5% to 10%. Variation of the additive amount in this range allows us to obtain fully biodegradable blends and improve on the brittle nature of poly(Lactic acid) without significant compromise on mechanical properties such as thermal stability and modulus.

Fully bioderived and biodergradable polymer blends: A potential alternative to petroleum-based plastics

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.