While the use of plastics continues to increase in our daily lives in a growing range products, these materials are very persistent in the environment. The blending of aliphatic polyesters with other thermoplastic polymers is a profitable way of producing materials with changed physical properties and biodegradability, which can facilitate microbial adhesion to the polymer matrix and help to reduce (post-consumer) degradation time of these materials in landfills. This study was an investigation of the biodegradation of films of blends of poly(vinyl chloride (PVC) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) by soil microorganisms and leachate, by means of respirometry, infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR), differential calorimetry scanning (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle and weight loss. The results showed that in the soil, the films suffered oxidative biodegradation. The PCL promoted degradation of the PVC in the film of PVC/PCL and the PVC inhibited the rapid degradation of the PCL.

Fibras de sisal com quatro tratamentos, a saber: fibra lavada com água, lavada com cicloexano/etanol, tratamento alcalino (NaOH) e tratamento com peróxido alcalino (branqueamento), foram incorporadas na blenda amido termoplástico/policaprolactona 80/20 (TPS/PCL). As propriedades morfológicas, mecânicas e térmicas dos biocompósitos TPS/PCL/Sisal foram analisadas. Os compósitos com a fibra branqueada apresentaram os melhores resultados de resistência à tração e estabilidade térmica. Verificou-se também melhora da adesão fibra-matriz no compósito com a fibra branqueada, com aumento de 145% na resistência à tração.

Sisal fibers treated with four methods, namely washing with water, washing with cyclohexane/ethanol, alkali treatment (NaOH) and bleaching (alkaline peroxide treatment), were incorporated in thermoplastic starch/polycaprolactone 80/20 (TPS/PCL) samples. Morphological, mechanical and thermal properties of TPS/PCL/Sisal biocomposites were analysed. The best results were obtained with the composite using the bleached fiber, which had improved tensile strength and thermal stability. An increased adhesion between the fiber and matrix was also observed with the bleached fiber, with 145% increase in the tensile strength

Filmes de poli(ε-caprolactona) (PCL) foram preparados por compressão a quente e investigados com respeito a sua biodegradação em diferentes colunas de solo, após 60 dias. A morfologia e estrutura dos filmes, após os diferentes tratamentos, foram verificadas através de medidas de perda de massa, espectroscopia no infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FTIR), calorimetria exploratória diferencial (DSC), termogravimetria (TG) e microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV). Os filmes de PCL sofreram biodegradação, principalmente na fase amorfa, atribuídas a quebras das ligações ésteres da cadeia polimérica, devido à ação de exo-enzimas dos microrganismos do solo. Os fatores abióticos, tais como temperatura, pH, quantidade de oxigênio e principalmente tipo de coluna de solo e umidade, foram aspectos considerados relevantes no processo de biodegradação dos filmes de PCL em solo.

Poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) films were prepared by melt-pressing and investigated with respect to their biodegradation in different soil columns after 60 days. The morphology and structure of the films, after various microbial treatments, were studied with measurements of mass loss, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry ( TG) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The PCL films underwent biodegradation, mainly in the amorphous phase, attributed to breaking of ester bonds of the polymer chain due to the action of exo-enzymes from soil microorganisms. The abiotic factors such as temperature, pH, oxygen content and principally soil column type and humidity were considered important aspects for the biodegradation process on the PCL films in soil.