Development of Pla / Phb Blown Films with Improved Performance for Food Packaging Applications

In the present work, the suitability of Polylactic acid (PLA) / Poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) blends for blown film extrusion was evaluated in a broad range of compositions, obtaining films with improved performance for food packaging applications. Blending PHB with PLA enhanced the processability of the systems for the film blowing process than neat PLA. Moreover, even though the polymers were found to be immiscible, the addition of PHB improved the crystallization of PLA, with a consequent increase in the stiffness, barrier properties and light-screening ability of the final developed systems. An increase in the ductility of the films was also achieved with a PHB content up to 30 wt.%. Correlations between the transparency and the crystallinity degree, and between the oxygen permeability and the elastic modulus of the films were also evaluated.