Comparison with Other Biodegradable and Traditional Polymers

3 Comparison with Other Biodegradable and Traditional Polymers 

The main properties of some important biodegradable polymers, including PHBV, are summarized in Table 24.4. 

One of the difficulties with the pure PHB and its copolymers (for example, PHBV] is it high melting point, similar to that of PLA, with the additional problem that the degradation temperature is quite near, but that problem could be solved by using plasticizers (as was previously explained] or by incorporating nanoparticles (as explained in the following section]. 

Regarding the mechanical properties, the stiffness of this material is high (the highest with the exception of PLA), but the elongation at break is quite low, which can be also solved by means of the incorporation of plasticizers. 

It is really interesting that the water vapor transmission rate is the lowest of the commonly used biodegradable polymers this characteristic is truly relevant, for example, in packaging applications. 

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