Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


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8747879 
Meetings & Symposia 
The rheology and degradation of renewable resource polymers 
Eickhoff, J; Harrison, GM 
2006 
2-13 
English 
In recent years there has been a growing interest in the development of alternatives to petroleum based products. Bio-derived polymers have been shown to demonstrate similar mechanical properties as well as superior degradation properties to existing commercial products. One family of biodegradable polyesters of particular interest are polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) co-polymers. In this work, we investigate the flow behavior of both a pure PHA co-polymer, namely poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate), and blends of this PHA with PLA. We report on the shear and extensional flow behavior of these materials. Extensional tests of the materials are performed over a range of temperatures (155°C to 175°C) and strain rates (0.01 to 10s -1) typically encountered in processing applications. Transient dynamic rheological experiments, coupled with GPC analysis, were employed to determine the degradation kinetics of the materials. A random chain scission model was used to determine the degradation rate constant over a range of temperatures. Results will be presented for both the pure PHA samples as well as the PLA/PHA blends.