Manufacturing multi-degradable food packaging films and their degradibility

摘要

Multi-degradable master batch (M/B) was prepared and 0.05 mm polyethylene (PP) food packaging films containing 0, 10, and 20 percent M/B were manufactured by inflation film processing. The films were exposed to UV radiation, fungi, and heat in orderto observe their photolysis, biodegradability, and thermal degradability, respectively. While pure PP film maintained more than 70 percent of its original elongation after 8 weeks of UV radiation, an almost perfect loss in the elongation of PP film containing 20 percent M/B was observed. Significant decreases in elongation of PP films by heat treatment (68 +- 2 deg C) were also found in samples containing the multi-degradable M/B. By observing changes in film surface after the inoculation of fungi using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the biodegradability of plastic films could be accelerated with the addition of multi-degradable M/B. The results of the mulching test in yard showed that adding multi-degradable M/B can effectively degrade plastic films in natural environmental conditions without interrupting the growth of plants.