Table 1.
Different blends of biopolymers.
| Plastic | Blend | Remarks | Application | Characterization technique | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLA | PLA/TPS | Adding TPS, properties of PLA was increased which ultimately increased shelf-life of the packaging material. Trays were immersed in bee-wax to improve the permeability of the material. |
Trays production | SEM, XRD, TGA | Reis et al. (2018) |
| PLA/PHB | Addition of PHB into PLA had enhanced barrier properties due to which the storage capability increased. OLA as plasticizer and carvacrol was incorporated in the film as active agent for anti-microbial packaging. |
Packaging film | SEM, XRD | Burgos et al. (2017) | |
| PLA/PBA | Addition of PBA with 1000 g/mol as plasticizer improved PLA properties. Degree of crystallinity increased with increasing PBA content. |
SEM, DSC, TGA, dynamic mechanical analysis. | Liu et al. (2017) | ||
| PLA/starch blend | Starch was used as a nucleating agent and glycerol as a plasticizer. With increase in starch content spherulites size decreased. ratio of 100/40 of PLA and starch gelatinized with water/glycerol had greatest superiority of mechanical properties. |
Food packaging | FTIR, DSC | Park (2001) | |
| PLA/corn starch | Maleic anhydride acted as a good compatibilizer, while maleated thermoplastic starch was not very effective for PLA/starch blend systems. The degradation rate of the blended film was higher. |
Packaging film | FTIR, SEM, DSC | Jang et al. (2007) | |
| PLA/PU | PLAPU polymers were synthesized through PLA diol with hexamethylene diisocynate, with chain extension by PCL diol. PLA: PCL of the ratio 1:3 had greater elongation at break at 1053% and the barrier properties were also enhanced. |
Packaging film | MR, FTIR, DSC | Akter et al., 2014 | |
| PLA/PBSA | Triphenyl phosphide was used a compatibilizer. Properties like tensile strength, impact strength and elongation at break increased. Improved phase adhesion made the blend more tough. |
Biodegradable active film for food packaging | FESEM | Ojijo et al. (2013) | |
| PHA | PHA/Zein | Zein fibers incorporation in PHA increased the oxygen and barrier properties. The mechanical properties were not significantly affected, and transparency was also decreased as the zein content increased. |
Packaging film | SEM, TGA | Fabra et al. (2014) |
| PHA/PA | By addition of PA the stiffness and toughness of the film increased. The complex viscosity and elastic share modulus of the blend increased with increasing PHA content. |
DMA, DSC, TGA, SEM | Yang et al. (2015) | ||
| PCL | PCL/PLA | The stiffness of the blend decreased with increase in PCL. The blend exhibited good toughness balance and the impact strength of the material increased with increased elongation at break. |
Medical equipment, packaging material, and dairy fields | SEM, XRD | Urquijo et al. (2015) |
| PCL/TPS/PLA | citric acid, maleic anhydride and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI citric acid, maleic anhydride and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI citric acid, maleic anhydride, and methylene diphenyl diisocynate were used as compatibilizing agent. The thermal stability was not affected but it induced crystallinity in the blend. Melt viscosity of the blend increased. |
Biodegradable film | DSC, TGA, FTIR, SEM | Carmona et al., 2015 | |
| PCL/PBS | Due to the difference between the melt viscosities of PCL and PBS a non-uniform immiscible film was formed. Carbon nanotubes addition increased the thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties. |
Biodegradable resin | SEM, PLOM | Gumede et al. (2018) | |
| PHB | PHB/PBAT | PHB/PBAT blend with addition of chlorinated agent such as chlorine bleach increased storage time of packaging material. The film also exhibited antimicrobial activity against E. ColiO157:H7, and Staphylococcus aureus. |
food packaging and medically related material | SEM, FTIR, TGA | Lin et al. (2018) |
| PHBV/PLA | PHBV content of 20–35% in PLA was found to be most suitable because of high compatibility and increased barrier properties. | Packaging application | DSC | Jost (2018) | |
| PHB/Chitosan | Trifluoroacetic acid was a co-solvent and the content of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen was decreased in the blend. The ratio of 50:50 was found to be most thermal stable. |
Biomedical application | CHNS Analyzer, SEM, TGA | Karbasi et al. (2016) | |
| (PHB-HV)/maize starch | With increasing starch content young's modulus, strain to break, strength and puncture force decreased. There was lack of interfacial adhesion between the polymers. |
Packaging | FTIR, XRD, DSC, optical microscopy | Reis et al., 2018 | |
| Starch. | Corn-starch/Chitosan | Films made from the blend of corn starch and chitosan had good optical and morphological properties. The blend was sensitive to pH variations. |
Film production | TIR, DSC, Thermal degradation. | Silva-Pereira et al. (2015) |
| Rice starch/chitosan | Blend showed enhanced water vapor permeability, tensile strength, colour and a decrease in elongation strength and film solubility. Molecular miscibility was seen between the two polymers. |
Biodegradable film | FTIR, XRD, gravimetric Modified Cup method | Bourtoom and Chinnan (2008) | |
| Starch/PHB | Tensile strength was maximum for the ratio of 0.7:0.3 PHB: Starch. The thermal stability was increased by 30 °C |
Packaging film | DSC, TGA | Godbole et al. (2003) | |
| HPS/PE | The carbonyl index of blend increased but mechanical strength decreased with the increase in starch content. The degradation of the film increased. |
– | SEM, XRD | Kim (2003) | |
| Rice starch/four | Glycerol/sorbitol was used as a stabilizer. The blend with ratio of 2:8 showed highest Tensile strength. Films with sorbitol were less permeable to water and film made with glycerol had high permeability. |
SEM, FTIR | Dias et al. (2010) | ||
| Starch/PVA | Citric acid was used as plasticizer and glutaraldehyde as the cross-linker which increased tensile strength and degree of swelling of the film. Results showed that film can be an exceptional material for food packaging. |
Biodegradable plastic | FTIR, SEM, TGA. | Priya et al. (2014) | |
| Chitin/chitosan | Chitin/PHB | The thermal transition temperature was same as that of neat PHB. The blend showed high biodegradability because the crystallinity of the PHB was lowered. |
Biodegradable packaging | WAXD, DMTA | Ikejima and Inoue (2000) |
| Chitosan/Cellulose | Trifluoroacetic acid was used as a co-solvent. A reduction in water vapor permeability was seen. The blend demonstrated effective antimicrobial capability against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. |
Wound dressing application | DMTA | Wu et al. (2004) | |
| PBS | PBS/CAB | The polymers were miscible at 0–30 % wt. of PBS. Due to the plasticizing effect of PBS the young's modulus of the blend decreased. By immersing in acetone porous film was obtained. |
– | XRD, DSC, Viscoelastic Analyzer | Tatsushima et al. (2005) |
| PBS/PLA | In presence of lysine triisocyanate (LTI) the impact strength of the blended film increased Results showed that LTI could be a good processing agent which increases the compatibility of PLA/PBS blend. |
Packaging application | MFR, SEC, LSCM, Charpy impact test | Harada et al. (2007) | |
| PBS/CA | The hydrophilicity of the cellulose acetate membrane improved upto 50% by addition of PBS. The thermal stability and degradation in compost was increased. |
– | SEM, TGA, biodegradability test | Ghaffarian et al. (2013) | |
| PBS/starch | The melting temperature decreased with addition of untreated and gelatinized starch. The tensile strength increased when untreated starch was replaced with gelatinized starch. |
Packaging film | Tension-meter, softness measurement. | Park et al. (2001) |
PLA: Polylactic acid, TPS: Thermoplastic starch, PHB: Polyhydroxy-butyrate, PBA: Polybutylene acrylate, PU: Polyurethane, OLA: Oligomeric lactic acid, PCL: Polycaprolactone, PBSA: Polybutylene succinate-co-butylene adipate, PA: Polyamide, PHA: Polyhydroxyalkonate, PBS: Polybutylene succinate, PBAT: Polybutylene adipate terephthalate, PHBV: Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate, PEO: Polyethylene oxide, HPS: Hydroxypropyl Starch, PE: Polyethylene, PVA: Polyvinyl alcohol, HPC: Hydroxypropyl cellulose, CAB: Cellulose acetate butyrate, CA: Cellulose acetate.