Blends of PVA with Natural Fillers

Abstract

Several blends of polyvinyl alcohol, glycerol and natural fillers (starch, thermocell and thermocell gel) have been prepared. The influence of fillers in blend systems on the mechanical and thermal properties and biodegradation in soil of the prepared films was investigated. It was found that mechanical characteristics, thermal properties and biodegradation of modified PVA films were significantly affected by content and correlation of fillers. Tensile strength and elongation at break of irradiated modified PVA films decreased but for clean PVA films mentioned tensile strength increased ~2.5 times. Addition of biodegradable natural filler thermocell gel facilitates the biodegradation of PVA films in soil