L Evaluation Board Statement: Not applicable. Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
L Assessment Board Statement: Not applicable. Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable. Data Availability Statement: Information associated with this work are offered inside a supplementary file. Raw data could be obtained in the corresponding author upon a affordable request.Polymers 2021, 13,11 ofAcknowledgments: This perform was financially supported by the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan under the grant NRPU 6579 and by the Taif AZD4625 Autophagy University Researchers Supporting Project number (TURSP-2020/262), Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing economic interests. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
polymersArticleMicrofibrillated Cellulose Grafted with Metacrylic Acid as a Modifier in Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)Marius Stelian Popa 1,2 , Adriana Nicoleta Frone 1 , Ionut Cristian Radu 2 , Paul Octavian Stanescu two , Roxana Truc 3 , Valentin Rdi iu 1 , Cristian Andi Nicolae 1 , Augusta Raluca Gabor 1 s t and Denis Mihaela Panaitescu 1, Institute for Research Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry–ICECHIM, 202 SplaiulIndependentei, 060021 Bucharest, Romania; [email protected] (M.S.P.); [email protected] (A.N.F.); [email protected] (V.R.); [email protected] (C.A.N.); [email protected] (A.R.G.) Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 1 Gh. Polizu Street, 011061 Bucharest, Romania; [email protected] (I.C.R.); [email protected] (P.O.S.) National Research Centre for Micro and Nanomaterials, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 313 Spl. Indendentei, 060042 Bucharest, Romania; [email protected] Correspondence: [email protected]: Popa, M.S.; Frone, A.N.; Radu, I.C.; Stanescu, P.O.; Truc , R.; s a R di iu, V.; Nicolae, C.A.; Gabor, a t A.R.; Panaitescu, D.M. Microfibrillated Cellulose Grafted with Metacrylic Acid as a Modifier in Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate). Polymers 2021, 13, 3970. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/polym13223970 Academic Editor: Wei Zhang Received: six November 2021 Accepted: 15 November 2021 Published: 17 NovemberAbstract: This work proposes a brand new strategy for obtaining poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)/microfibrillated cellulose (MC) composites with more balanced properties intended for the substitution of petroleum-based polymers in packaging and engineering applications. To achieve this, the MC surface was adjusted by a new chemical route to enhance its compatibility using the PHB matrix: (i) generating active websites on the surface of MC with -methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (SIMA) or vinyltriethoxysilane (SIV), followed by (ii) the graft polymerization of methacrylic acid (MA). The high efficiency of the SIMA-MA therapy along with the decrease efficiency within the case of SIV-MA have been confirmed by the alterations observed in the Fourier transform infrared FTIR spectra of celluloses. All modified Pinacidil manufacturer celluloses as well as the PHB composites containing them showed great thermal stability close to the processing temperature of PHB. SIMA-modified celluloses acted as nucleating agents in PHB, increasing its crystallinity and favoring the formation of smaller spherulites. A uniform dispersion of SIMA-modified celluloses in PHB as a result of the superior compatibility among the two phases was observed by scanning electron microscopy and quite a few agglomerations of fibers inside the composite with unmodified MC. The dual part of SIMA-MA remedy, as both compatibilizer and plasticizer, was pointed out by mechanical and.
