Journal
CHEMICAL PAPERS
Volume 70, Issue 9, Pages 1268-1278Publisher
WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH
DOI: 10.1515/chempap-2016-0043
Keywords
natural ageing; PLA/PHB blend; mulching foil; degradation; UV irradiation; crops yield
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Funding
- European Regional Development Fund through the Hungary-Slovakia Cross-Border Cooperation Program [HUSK/1101/1.2.1/0209]
- project VEGA (Slovakia) [2/0167/14]
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The paper is aimed on the investigation of natural ageing of plasticized poly(lactic acid)/poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate) PLA/PHB blend films during their one-season application as mulches under real field conditions in the western part of Slovakia. Acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC) was used as the plasticizer. The analysis was performed on three differently exposed parts of the foil: i) buried in soil, ii) exposed to sunlight, and iii) shadowed by plants. In parallel, UV irradiation of the blend under laboratory controlled conditions (constant temperature of 30 degrees C and relative humidity of 55 %) was carried out. The degradation effect was followed by changes in the molar mass, chemical and crystalline structures, as well as in thermal and mechanical properties. The ternary PLA/PHB/ATBC blend lost its tensile properties faster when buried in soil than when exposed to sunlight. This result is in agreement with the data obtained for the UV-irradiated materials. Young's modulus values showed a significant mechanical degradation under the UV irradiation as well as during natural ageing. The study was also focused on the influence of mulches on the yield and quality of sweet pepper production, characterized by carotenoids and vitamin C content. (c) 2016 Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences
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