BLENDS OF BACTERIAL AND SYNTHETIC POLY(BETA-HYDROXYBUTYRATE) - EFFECT OF TACTICITY ON MELTING BEHAVIOR

Co-crystallization of bacterial and partially isotactic poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) was studied by d.s.c. Measurements were made on solvent-cast films and rapidly co-precipitated powders. When the latter technique is used for partially isotactic PHB blended with bacterial PHB, a single melting point was observed at all compositions, which is intermediate between those of the two components. Synthetic atactic PHB was incompatible with the bacterial material but at compositions above 60 wt% atactic PHB a significant drop in melting point of the bacterial PHB was observed. Since both bacterial and synthetic PHB are biodegradable it is concluded that synthetic/bacterial PHB blends can be an attractive alternative to conventional blending involving non-biodegradable polymers.