Preparation and characterization of microbial biodegradable poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐4‐hydroxybutyrate)/organoclay nanocomposites

Novel biodegradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB-co-4HB)]/organoclay nanocomposites were prepared via solution casting. Exfoliated nanocomposite structure was confirmed by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for the nanocomposites with low organoclay loadings (≤3 wt%), whereas the mixtures of exfoliated and unexfoliated organoclays were appeared in the nanocomposite with an organoclay content of 5 wt%. The organoclay fillers accelerated significantly the cold crystallization process of P(3HB-co-4HB) matrix. The thermal stability of the nanocomposites was in general better than that of pristine P(3HB-co-4HB). Considerable increase in tensile modulus was observed for the nanocomposites, especially at an organoclay content of 3 wt%. These results demonstrated that the nanocomposites improved the material properties of P(3HB-co-4HB). POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers