Structure and properties of biodegradable gluten/aliphatic polyester blends

Aliphatic polyesters have excellent mechanical properties and biodegradability and are well suited to disposable applications. A drawback is that they currently have a high cost. In an effort to reduce their cost, we have prepared blends of an aliphatic polyester with wheat gluten, an inexpensive biodegradable protein. Plasticizers such as low molecular weight polyols were used in formulations to enhance the processability of the gluten. The resulting biodegradable gluten-based plastics demonstrate good physical and thermal properties. For the gluten granules-based blends, a droplet-like structure was obtained as observed in filler-polymer systems. On the other hand, due to the rheological characteristics of the plasticized gluten, a deformed fine morphology was observed in the plasticized gluten-based bleeds. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.