PLA-Based Materials Containing Bio-Plasticizers and Chitosan Modified with Rosehip Seed Oil for Ecological Packaging

Several recipes based on PLA, bio-plasticizers, and active agents such as vitamin E and cold-pressed rosehip seed oil encapsulated into chitosan by the emulsion method named here as chitosan modified (CS-M) were elaborated by melt compounding for food packaging applications. Resulted biocomposites have been investigated from the point of view of physical-mechanical, thermal, barrier, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties to select the formulations with the optimum features to produce food trays and films for packaging applications. The obtained results showed that the elaborated formulations exhibit tensile strength and flexibility dependent on their composition being either rigid or flexible, as well as antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, which will potentially lead to prolonged use for food packaging. The recipe with PLA matrix and 40:60 Lapol^®108 as masterbarch/polyethylene glycol (MB/PEG) bio-plasticizers ratio was distinguished by an improvement of over 100 times in terms of flexibility compared with neat PLA, while the highest antioxidant activity (36.27%) was recorded for the sample containing a CS-M and MB/PEG ratio of 60:40. An enhancement of ~50% for the water vapor barrier was recorded for PLA/CS-M_100:0 material. By modulating the MB and PEG bio-plasticizers ratio, the design of new eco-friendly food packaging materials with antimicrobial/antioxidant characteristics by using the existing technologies for processing synthetic polymers (melt mixing, compounding, pressing, thermoforming) has been successfully realized.

Tribological and Dynamical Mechanical Behavior of Prototyped PLA-Based Polymers

It is essential to combine current state-of-the-art technologies such as additive manufacturing with current ecological needs. Due to the increasing demand for non-toxic biodegradable materials and products, human society has been searching for new materials. Consequently, it is compulsory to identify the qualities of these materials and their behavior when subjected to various external factors, to find their optimal solutions for application in various fields. This paper refers to the biodegradable Polylactic acid (PLA)-based filament (commercially known as Extrudr BDP (Biodegradable Plastic) Flax) compared with the biodegradable composite material PLA-lignin filament whose constituent's trade name is Arboblend V2 Nature as a lignin base material and reinforcement with Extrudr BDP Pearl, a PLA based polymer, 3D printed by Fused Deposition Modeling technology. Certain mechanical properties (tensile strength, bending strength and DMA-Dynamic Mechanical Analysis) were also determined. The tribology behavior (friction coefficient and wear), the structure and the chemical composition of the biodegradable materials were investigated by SEM-Scanning Electron Microscopy, EDX-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis, XRD-X-Ray Diffraction Analysis, FTIR-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer and TGA-Thermogravimetric Analysis. The paper also refers to the influence of technological parameters on the 3D printed filaments made of Extrudr BDP Flax and the optimization those of technological parameters. The thermal behavior during the heating of the sample was analyzed by Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). As a result of the carried-out research, we intend to recommend these biodegradable materials as possible substituents for plastics in as many fields of activity as possible.