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 foam packaging. Starch esters, and thermoplastic starch-polyester blends are also being commercialized for packaging and other single-use applications. The chemistry, general properties, processability and current applications for these new biodegradable and biobased plastic resins is presented. R&D efforts in the biodegradable and biobased plastics will be reviewed including the use of vegetable oils like soybean, proteins, cellulosics in addition to those mentioned earlier.