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. 2021 May 17;13(10):1616.
doi: 10.3390/polym13101616.

Effect of Moisture Content on the Processing and Mechanical Properties of a Biodegradable Polyester

Vincenzo Titone  1   2 , Antonio Correnti  3 , Francesco Paolo La Mantia  1   2
Affiliations

Effect of Moisture Content on the Processing and Mechanical Properties of a Biodegradable Polyester

Vincenzo Titone et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

This work is focused on the influence of moisture content on the processing and mechanical properties of a biodegradable polyester used for applications in injection molding. The pellets of the biodegradable polyester were exposed under different relative humidity conditions at a constant temperature before being compression molded. The compression-molded specimens were again placed under the above conditions before the mechanical testing. With all these samples, it is possible to determine the effect of moisture content on the processing and mechanical properties separately, as well as the combined effect of moisture content on the mechanical properties. The results obtained showed that the amount of absorbed water-both before processing and before mechanical testing-causes an increase in elongation at break and a slight reduction of the elastic modulus and tensile strength. These changes have been associated with possible hydrolytic degradation during the compression molding process and, in particular, with the plasticizing action of the moisture absorbed by the specimens.

Keywords: biodegradable polymers; mechanical properties; moisture content; processing; rheology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scheme of the procedure adopted in this work.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Stress–strain curve of samples coming from pellets conditioned under the three conditions and specimens for mechanical testing conditioned at RH = 0%.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Stress–strain curve of samples coming from pellets conditioned under the three conditions and specimens for mechanical testing conditioned at RH = 50%.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Stress–strain curve of samples coming from pellets conditioned under the three conditions and specimens for mechanical testing conditioned at RH = 90%.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Flow curves of the samples from pellets conditioned under the three humidity conditions and specimen conditioned at RH = 0 and 90% after processing.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Histogram of the EB dimensionless values of all samples.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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