Cellulose based composite materials

Salman Safari and Theo van de Ven

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a hydrophobic, biodegradable biopolymer, which can be a potential substitute for currently used synthesized polymers in the packaging industry. However, its utility is often limited by its brittleness and poor mechanical properties, mainly because of its through-thickness fractures. In this study, we laminate and crystallize PHB on glassine paper, a super-calendared paper, by hot-pressing and tune the crystallization conditions to change the PHB spherulites morphology and minimize cracking. The fabricated two-layer glassine/PHB films have mechanical strength and Young鈥檚 modulus of 80 MPa and 2.5 GPa, respectively, and a water vapor transmission rate of 20 g/(m2 day). Our results suggest a simple and cost-effective method to produce PHB films with enhanced mechanical and water vapor barrier properties.