Bioplastic Based Multifunctional Conductive Blend Nanocomposites

Salehiyan, Reza; Soleymani Eil Bakhtiari, Sanaz

Abstract

Bio-based plastics have become popular among researchers and industries due to their potential contributions towards a more sustainable environment. Up to date, there have been numerous studies around development of bioplastics and their future applications with some already commercialized products mainly in packaging industry. Despite their sustainable promise, most of these polymers cannot fulfill the expectations as per market demand. Drawbacks including, brittleness, imperfect crystallization, high production costs, low service temperature, etc. have limited their usage and possibly that is the reason why they have been mostly used in the packaging industry. In this context and to offset some of the abovementioned shortcoming, blending strategy is suggested. As a result, biopolymers have been blended with other non-bio and/or biopolymers where the biopolymer contains a significant fraction of the blend. Some examples included here are polylactide acid (PLA)/polycaprolactone (PCL), PLA/butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), PLA/poly [(butylene succinate)-co-adipate] (PBSA), PLA/poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), and PLA/Polystyrene (PS). In this chapter, we discuss how these blends ‘capabilities can be pushed beyond their limit to areas where niche market is targeted. Electrical conductivity is one of the critical features required for such specific areas including sensors. As such, inherently conductive particles namely, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene nano platelets, and carbon black have been incorporated into the systems. It is further explained in detail how various parameters including the blend composition, blending sequence, nanoparticles selective localization, morphology, particle concentration, polymer-particle and particle-particle interactions can influence the status of the final conductive network and hence the functionality of the nanocomposites for specific applications such as different sensors.

Citation

Salehiyan, R., & Soleymani Eil Bakhtiari, S. (2024). Bioplastic Based Multifunctional Conductive Blend Nanocomposites. In Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-95486-0.00064-8

• Online Publication Date: Aug 16, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 6, 2024
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Book Title: Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering
• ISBN: 9780128035818
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-95486-0.00064-8