Preparation and Spectroscopic, Thermal, and Mechanical Characterization of Biocomposites of Poly(butylene succinate) and Onion Peels or Durum Wheat Bran

Abstract

The utilization of plant based fillers: onion peels (OP) and durum wheat bran (WB) to obtain sustainable biocomposite materials with poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) is presented in this paper. The biocomposites were first obtained in pellet form by extrusion method and then injection moldings were made from the pellets. Two kinds of biocomposites were fabricated containing 15% and 30% wt. of OP or WB. Additionally, pure PBS moldings were prepared for comparative purposes. The effect of the filler type and its amount on the chemical structure, density, thermal, and thermo-mechanical properties of the fabricated composite samples was studied. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy results showed that the composite preparation method had no effect on the chemical structure of composite components, but weak interactions such as hydrogen bonding between OP or WB and PBS was observed. The addition of OP or WB to the composite with PBS reduced its thermal stability in comparison with pure PBS, all studied composites start to degrade below 290 °C. Additionally, the mechanical properties of the composites are worse than PBS, as the impact strength dropped by about 70%. The deterioration of tensile strength was in the range 20–47%, and the elongation at maximum load of the composites was in the range 9.22–3.42%, whereas for pure PBS it was 16.75%. On the other hand, the crystallinity degree increased from 63% for pure PBS to 79% for composite with 30% wt. of WB. The Young’s modulus increased to 160% for composition with 30% wt. of OP. Additionally, the hardness of the composites was slightly higher than PBS and was in the range 38.2–48.7 MPa. Despite the reduction in thermal stability and some mechanical properties, the studied composites show promise for everyday object production.