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Effect of Amino Acid Ionic Liquids on the Interfacial Structure and Degradation Behavior of PLA/PBAT Blends
Summary
Researchers developed a method using amino acid ionic liquids to speed up the breakdown of biodegradable plastic blends (PLA/PBAT), achieving nearly four times faster degradation in enzyme solutions. This approach could help reduce the persistence of biodegradable plastics in the environment and lower the risk of microplastic accumulation.
The lysine p-toluenesulfonic acid ionic liquid ([Lys][p-TSA]), one kinds of amino acid ionic liquids, was synthesized by one-step method, which was employed to control the interfacial structure and degradation behavior of poly(lactide)/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PLA/PBAT) blends. The [Lys][p-TSA] was incorporated into PLA/PBAT blends with different contents by melt blending, and the effect of [Lys][P-TSA] on the interfacial structure, thermal stability, crystallization behavior, rheological behavior and degradation behavior of PLA/PBAT blends were investigated. The SEM results demonstrate that [Lys][p-TSA] could enhance the compatibility between PLA and PBAT in the PLA/PBAT blends. Thermal gravimetric results showed that the incorporation of [Lys][p-TSA] into PLA/PBAT blends could not affect their thermal stability. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements showed that [Lys][p-TSA] can improve the crystallinity of PLA, and the rheological behavior of the blends indicated that [Lys][p-TSA] can enhance the chain mobility of PLA and PBAT. More importantly, the degradation behavior of the blends revealed that [Lys][p-TSA] could affect the distribution of lipase in PLA/PBAT blends, so that the relative degradation rate of each component of the blends was well-controlled. As the [Lys][p-TSA] content increased, the degradation rate of the PLA/PBAT blend in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution, artificial seawater, porcine pancreas lipase (PPL) solution and Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) solution was enhanced. When the contents of [Lys][p-TSA] was 4 phr in the PLA/PBAT blend, the weight loss of the blend in PPL enzyme solution reached to 31.59% after 49 days, which was 3.79 times higher than that of PLA/PBAT blend without [Lys][p-TSA]. The enzymatic degradation mechanism of the blends was studied by density functional theory (DFT) and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and it was found that [Lys][p-TSA] could control the distribution of lipase in the blends, which accelerated the enzymatic degradation of the PLA/PBAT blend. This study could provide some new way on enhancing the properties of PLA/PBAT blends while reducing the harm of microplastics.