Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) - Organo Modified Montmorillonite Nanohybrid; Preparation and Characterization
Nano-biohybrid, based on biodegradable polyester, poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), and a commercial organo modified montmorillonite (MMT), were prepared by solvent casting technique. Morphology and non-isothermal degradation of PHB and PHB/MMT hybrids were characterized by POM and TG-DTG technique. In the composite materials, an increase MMT loading in the PHB decreased the onset temperature (Tonset) of thermal degradation, while it achieved higher values upon increasing the heating rate. Kissinger plots deduced a trend of the degradation activation energy, Ed, which was related to the agglomeration of MMT. The thermal degradation rate constant, k, was related to the MMT loading in PHB. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the expansion of MMT silicate layers.