Compatibilizing effect of a graft copolymer on bacterial poly (3-hydroxybutyrate)/poly (methyl methacrylate) blends

Blends of isotactic (natural) poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) are partially miscible, and PHB in excess of 20 wt % segregates as a partially crystalline pure phase. Copolymers containing atactic PHB chains grafted onto a PMMA backbone are used to compatibilize phase-separated PHB/PMMA blends. Two poly(methyl methacrylate-g-hydroxybutyrate) [P(MMA-g-HB)] copolymers with different grafting densities and the same length of the grafted chain have been investigated. The copolymer with higher grafting density, containing 67 mol % hydroxybutyrate units, has a beneficial effect on the mechanical properties of PHB/PMMA blends with 30-50% PHB content, which show a remarkable increase in ductility. The main effect of copolymer addition is the inhibition of PHB crystallization. No compatibilizing effect on PHB/PMMA blends with PHB contents higher than 50% is observed with various amounts of P(MMA-g-HB) copolymer. In these blends, the graft copolymer is not able to prevent PHB crystallization, and the ternary PHB/PMMA/ P(MMA-g-HB) blends remain crystalline and brittle. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.