Studies of the effect of molding pressure and incorporation of sugarcane bagasse fibers on the structure and properties of poly (hydroxy butyrate)

Poly (hydroxy butyrate) (PHB) is a biodegradable polymer that can be obtained from both renewable and synthetic resources. There have been many attempts to improve its structure and properties by different methods. This paper, while mentioning briefly PHB and sugarcane bagasse fibers, focuses on the effect of compressive/molding pressure on its structure and thermal properties with incorporation of sugarcane bagasse fibers, with and without steam explosion treatment. Thermal behavior (thermogravimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis), X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, optical microscopy methods were used to understand the changes in PHB resulting from the pressure and incorporation of fibers while scanning electron microscopy is used to understand the morphology of both the fiber and PHB. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.