Hydrophilicity Impact upon Physical Properties of the Environmentally Friendly Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) Blends: Modification Via Blending

We have integrated scientific research of polymer blends on the base of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB and its copolymers) with bench testing in blend preparation by both solvent casting and melt extrusion. As a second component, we have used traditional synthetic macromolecules with various hydrophilicity degree and hence with different morphologies and physical behavior. Besides, variation of polymer hydrophilicity permits to control both the service characteristic and the rate of (bio)degradation operating in the presence of water. Therefore, a substantial part of our work is devoted to water transport in the parent PHB and its blends. Combining the morphology knowledge (SEM, WAXS, FTIR tecynique), transport characteristics (permeability cells and McBain spring microbalance), and mechanical testing, we propose that blending of the parent biodegradable polymer with synthetic macromolecules is a perspective tool to design novel materials with improved characteristics. Both the water transport coefficients and the mechanical characteristics are essentially sensitive to structure and morphology of the blends. Hydrophilicity variation in the order LDPE < SPEU < PVA at blending with PHB shows that the morphology transformation in immicsible or partly miscible blends shifted along the PHB concentration scale as LDPE (at ∼16 wt% PHB) < PVA (∼30 wt% PHB) < SPEU (∼50 wt% PHB) Our instrumental monitoring the structural hierarchy of parent polymers and their blends as well as , simultaneously, the study of transport processes, their modeling, and computer simulating open up the way to understanding the precepts of polymer operation in corrosive and bioactive media.