Comparative Life Cycle Studies on Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-Based Composites as Potential Replacement for Conventional Petrochemical Plastics

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• 作者：Matteo Pietrini ; Lex Roes ; Martin K. Patel ; Emo Chiellini
• 刊名：Biomacromolecules
• 出版年：2007
• 出版时间：July 2007
• 年：2007
• 卷：8
• 期：7
• 页码：2210 - 2218
• 全文大小：326K
• 年卷期：v.8,no.7(July 2007)
• ISSN：1526-4602

文摘

A cradle-to-grave environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of a few poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) basedcomposites has been performed and was compared to commodity petrochemical polymers. The end productsstudied are a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor housing (conventionally produced from high-impact polystyrene,HIPS) and the internal panels of an average car (conventionally produced from glass-fibers-filled polypropylene,PP-GF). The environmental impact is evaluated on the basis of nonrenewable energy use (NREU) and globalwarming potential over a 100 years time horizon (GWP100). Sugar cane bagasse (SCB) and nanoscaled organophilicmontmorillonite (OMMT) are used as PHB fillers. The results obtained show that, despite the unsatisfyingmechanical properties of PHB composites, depending on the type of filler and on the product, it is possible toreach lower environmental impacts than by use of conventional petrochemical polymers. These savings are mainlyrelated to the PHB production process, while there are no improvements related to composites preparation. SCB-based composites seem to be environmentally superior to clay-based ones.