OVERVIEW OF BIODEGRADABLE BIOBASED PLASTICS TECHNOLOGIES

摘要

Sustainable biodegradable plastics based on aliphatic polyesters and copolyesters have emerged. Poly(lactic acid)from corn is a successful major initiative. Starch based thermoplastic technologies have been developed for foampackaging. Starch esters, and thermoplastic starch-polyester blends are also being commercialized for packagingand other single-use applications. The chemistry, general properties, processability and current applications forthese new biodegradable and biobased plastic resins is presented. R&D efforts in the biodegradable and biobasedplastics will be reviewed including the use of vegetable oils like soybean, proteins, cellulosics in addition to thosementioned earlier.