Plant extracts as natural additives for environmentally friendly polylactide films

The use of biodegradable polymers derived from renewable sources may in the future be a solution to the problem of environmental pollution with polymer waste. By using natural fillers and additives in addition to the biodegradable matrix, we are able to obtain truly eco-fiendly green materials. The paper presents the result of selected properties of polylactide films containing natural coffee, cocoa or cinnamon extracts which primarily were proposed as natural antioxidants. The focus was on properties relevant to the packaging industry such as color and transparency, surface roughness, wettability, surface energy, friction coefficient, adhesion strength and gas permeability. It was found that the extracts used at the appropriate contents have a beneficial effect on the studied properties. The obtained results were often better not only than the values obtained for pure polymer, but also better than the values obtained for the film containing a synthetic anti-aging compound. It can therefore be concluded that the proposed plant extracts have a positive effect not only on the aging resistance of polylactide, but also other properties of this polymer. They can be therefore an alternative to synthetic additives.