Effect of Orientation on the Biodegradability of Aliphatic Copolyester Blown Films

✍ Scribed by Sang Pil Jang; Kwang Hee Lee; Mal Nam Kim

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 359 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1042-7147
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1581(199703)8:3<146::aid-pat652>3.0.co;2-b

✦ Synopsis

The effects of process conditions on the orientation of aliphatic copolyester-blown films were investigated by using both Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR) dichroism and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) methods. The results showed that a large increase in orientation was obtained by increasing the drawdown ratio (DDR). However, an unbalanced orientation was clearly shown at high DDR. A high blowup ratio was accompanied by reduced chain relaxation as well as fast crystallization, leading to more balanced films. The WAXD patterns of blown films exhibited the preferential orientation of lamellar crystallites. The results of microbial degradation indicated that the development of planar orientation evidently depressed biodegradability of samples. Video microscopy observations revealed that the degree of orientation played a dominant role in determining the rate of surface erosion.