Effects of Gamma Radiation on the Properties of the Thermoplastic Starch/Poly (Butylene Adipate-co-Terephthalate) Blends

The development of blends made from matrices of synthetic biodegradable polymers, and natural additives, are considered less environmentally aggressive materials. This work aimed to study the effects of gamma radiation on the properties of the thermoplastic starch (TPS)/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT). In this work, blends of TPS/PBAT were prepared with glycerol, castor oil and TWEEN® 80, which were prepared by extrusion and then subjected to the radiation process and characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results demonstrated increased thermal degradation for the F2 (composed by OM) and F3 (composed by OM and TWEEN® 80) regarding F0 (composed by glycerol) e F1 (composed by glycerol and TWEEN® 80) blends. A good blend component chemical interaction and partial miscibility for the blends F0 and F1 was observed and compared to the others. However, F2 and F3 blends did not present co-continuous phases; being that the XRD curve patterns were not altered by the gamma radiation. The tests performed demonstrated that the irradiated and non-irradiated samples did not have their properties significantly altered. Thus, it was concluded that it is feasible to replace castor oil with glycerol in TPS/PBAT blends.