Material Combinations
Material Combinations Table 1 Blends of PHBV Article contributed by Dr. Jim Lunt, V.P. Sales and Marketing, Tianan Biologic, Wayzata, Minnesota, USA Property Units PHB [1] PHBV (5% valerate) Youngs Modulus MPa 10 1400 Tensile Strength MPa 1-40 3 Elongation % 0- -10 Impact Strength J/M 3-0 Melting Point °C 12 1 Tg °C -10 to-1 4 Table 2 Sample Load (MPa) HDT 100% PLA 0.4 2.0 90/10 0.4 3.4 80/20 0.4 4. 0/30 0.4 4. 0/40 0.4 3.0 0/0 0.4 .3 Tensile test bars made of PHBV/PLA (Photo: Peter Holland B.V.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 Samples Held up to 12 minutes at 100°C 1: 100% PLA 2: 90% PLA / 10% PHBV 3: 80% PLA / 20% PHBV 1-3: 2 Minutes, deformed 4-: 12 Minutes, not Deformed 4: 0% PLA / 30% PHBV : 0% PLA / 40% PHBV : 0% PLA / 0% PHBV As dicussed in other articles, PHBV is one of the simplest members of the polyhydroxy alkanoate (PHA) family. Typically, the valerate co monomer is present at around % by weight of the polymer although products containing up to 11% and 20% of the valerate have been produced in developmental quantities. The rationale for incorporation of this amount of the valerate moiety is to increase flexibility and improve processability over simple poly 3 hydroxy butyrate (PHB), while still keeping the desirable attributes of high rate of crystallization and high melting point. Comparative properties of these two materials are illustrated in Table 1. At % valerate content, the elongation to break and un-notched izod impact are both increased over straight PHB, indicating an increase in ductility. However PHBV is still a rigid polymer. To further improve flexibility, the valerate content can be increased, but this comes at the cost of reducing the melting point and slowing down the rate of crystallization to a point at which these desirable attributes are lost. An alternative approach to improving the ductility of PHBV is the use of blends with other more flexible polymers. In addition, blends of PHBV with other biopolymers such as PLA are of interest due to the ability of PHBV to provide the higher crystallinity and hence improved heat distortion over PLA alone. Some examples of these initial blends and prototype applications are given below: In February 2008, Design Ideas launched a set of bathroom accessories under the brand name ECOGEN ® (see bM 02/2008, 03/2008 and p. 38). This is a compounded product supplied by PolyOne and is based on PHBV and Ecoflex by BASF. Recently, due to the limited supply of Ecoflex, companies have begun to investigate blends of PHBV with polybutylene succinate (PBS), for use in injection molding. Another potential blend is PHBV with PLA. The rate of crystallization of PLA is typically too slow to produce injection molded products with a high softening point. Higher heat performance PLA can be produced in fibers and biaxially orientated films using the stereo complex approach and also the use of a talc nucleated or organic wax nucleated product is being supplied for higher heat thermoformed applications. PHBV/PLA provides an additional route to high heat injection molded parts. As shown in the tensile bars on the photograph, and the heat distortion temperature (HDT) in Table 2 - the incorporation of as little as 30% PHBV in PLA provides a significant increase in the ability of the parts to resist deformation at higher temperatures. These examples of blends of PHBV with other materials are just the beginning. As the uses of biobased polymers increase in single use and more demanding durable applications, blends in which the benefits of PHBV provide a synergistic combination of properties will continue to be a route to meeting the property spectrum required and which is often deficient in many biobased materials when used alone. www.tianan-enmat.com [1]:ww.matbase.com/material/polymers/agrobased/phb/properties 14 bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/09] Vol. 4
2 nd PLA Bottle Conference 14-16 September 2009 within the Supporting Programme of Munich, Germany | Holiday Inn City Centre Organized by Preliminary Progamme: Monday Sept 14, 2009 - 13:00 Travel to Munich 10:00-13:00 Registration 12:00-13:00 Lunch 13:00-13:1 Michael Thielen, Polymedia Publisher Welcome 13:1-13:40 Michael Carus, nova Institut Keynote Speech 13:40-14:0 Udo Mühlbauer, Uhde Inventa-Fischer From the renewable feedstock to PLA 14:0-14:30 N.N., Natureworks LLC PLA, a versatile material for bottle- and other applications 14:30-14: Bernd Merzenich, Pyramid Bioplastics PLA, World market and availability 14:-1:10 Q&A 1:10-1:30 Coffeebreak 1:30-1: Stefan Bock, Netstal Production of PLA Preforms 1:-1:20 Frank Haesendonckx, KHS Corpoplast Stretch Blow Moulding of PLA 1:20-1:4 Thomas Schierding, Log Plastic Products Experiences in Producing PLA Preforms and Bottles 1:4-1:10 Lars von Carlsburg, KHS Plasmax Enhance Barrier Properties of PLA bottles 1:10-1:3 Mathias Hahn, Fraunhofer IAP Copolymerisation of PLA with view to enhanced barrier and thermal properties 1:3-1:0 Q&A 19:30 Dinner Tuesday Sept 15, 2009 09:00-09:2 Pascal Leroy, Sleever International PLA Shrink Labels 09:2-09:0 NN Bioplastics-Shrink-Films for shrink packaging -packs 09:0-10:1 Marcel Dartee, PolyOne Additives / Colorants for PLA 10:1-10:40 Thomas Weigl, Sukano Materbatches for PLA bottle production 10:40-10: Q&A 10.-11:20 Coffeebreak 11:20-11:4 Ernst Wiedmer, Wiedmer New developments in ‘BioCaps’ for PLA bottles 11:4-12:10 Manfred Burkart, AQUAFONTIS GmbH PLA bottles for special events 12:10-12:3 NN Expectations and prospects from a brandowners point of view 12:3-12:0 Q&A 12:0-14:00 Lunch 14:00-14:3 William Horner, Naturally Iowa Experiences from the market introduction of PLA bottles 14:3-14:0 Grant Hall, Good Water Experiences from the market introduction of PLA bottles 14:0-1:1 N.N. Experiences from the market introduction of PLA bottles 1:1-1:00 Q&A 1:00-1:20 Coffeebreak 1:20-1:4 Jöran Reske, Interseroh Biobased carbon content - Determination, Certification and Communication 1:4-1:10 Edward Kosior, Nextek Limitations of automatic sorting of PLA/PET 1:10-1:3 An Voss, Fost plus Collection and recycling systems in Europe, with the focus on the impact of PLA on the PET recycling streams 1:3-1:0 Q&A 1:0-18:1 Selected experts from the gropup of speakers Panel discussion: End of life options Wednesday Sept. 16 Visit to drinktec, the World‘s biggest show on beverage technology Register now ! www.pla-bottle-conference.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/09] Vol. 4 1
