Caracterização de filmes elaborados com poli(ácido) lático (PLA) incorporados com diferentes óleos

Abstract

Conventional packagings obtained from petroleum derivatives have limitations of biodegradation because of their source of non-renewable origin. One of the solutions found is the development of films and packaging produced by the substitution of these materials by natural polymers. A polymer having great potential for replacing conventional plastics is poly (lactic acid) (PLA). Its formative raw material, lactic acid, is easily obtainable through biotechnological processes from low-cost components such as corn and sugarcane. It has good rigidity, mechanical resistance and is highly versatile. The incorporation of different types of oils into the film aims to improve its characteristics and properties. As they are of vegetal origin, it makes attractive the addition of oil to the polymer matrix because they do not present any toxic effect to the health. The objectives of this work were to elaborate and characterize films from poly (lactic acid) (PLA) incorporated with the oils of chia (Salvia hispanica L), India walnut (Aleurites moluccanus), pumpkin seed (Cucurbita spp.) and babassu (Attalea spp.). The films were obtained by the casting technique with different concentrations (0, 5%, 10% and 15%) of the oils and fixed concentrations of PLA and chloroform, characterized by mechanical properties analysis, water vapor barrier, UV and visible light spectrophotometry, solubility and X-ray diffraction. The incorporation of the oil to the polymeric matrix was positive, presenting improvements in some of the analyzed parameters, such as increase of specific deformation and modulus of elasticity, decrease of water vapor permeability for chia, Indian walnut and pumpkin oils, passage decrease visible UV light and increased intensity of crystalline peaks, containing interesting characteristics for the development of possible sustainable food packaging.