Environmental-friendly corn stover/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) biocomposites

In this study, we tried to develop an eco-friendly and completely biodegradable composite through blending poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and corn stover (CS) without any chemical treatment. The effects of particle size and content of CS on the structure and properties of the CS/PBAT composites were also investigated. It was found that the introduction of CS improves the modulus and accelerates the crystallization of PBAT material, but decreases the thermal stability and increases the moisture adsorption of PBAT material. Increasing CS content shows a negative effect on the morphology and properties of CS/PBAT composites, poorer particle dispersion, reduced degree of crystallinity, lower thermal stability and decreased strength and toughness. At the same CS content, decreasing CS size makes the particle dispersion more uniform, increases the degree of crystallinity of PBAT, and significantly improves the thermal stability and tensile properties of the CS/PBAT composites.