الفهرس 
Mechanism of polyolefin biodegradationOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 176 |  |  |
| | | from | 176 | | |
Abstract
The present work is concerned with conversion of polypropylene as
polyolefin into eco-friendly degradable polymer via blending with
chitosan as biodegradable polymer. The challenge of this method is the
arised drawbacks coming from the poor mechanical and thermal
properties of chitosan compared with that of polypropylene. ZnO
nanoparticles were used as reinforcement agent to enhance the overall
physical properties of polypropylene/chitosan matrix. For this purpose,
chitosan was chemically and physically treated with ZnO nanoparticles
prior the blending with polypropylene. Our findings showed the
improvement of biodegradation rate of polypropylene nanocomposites
with chitosan/ZnO nanocomposite and polypropylene blends with
chitosan compared to neat polypropylene. Additionally, polypropylene
nanocomposites containing chitosan/ZnO nanocomposite attained
enhanced thermal and mechanical properties compared to
polypropylene/chitosan blends. The enhancement of biodegradation and
other physical properties of polypropylene nanocomposites will
maximize their use in different applications including agricultural
applications.