Characterization of polymer soil burial degradation by thermal analysis and mechanical spectroscopy

Polypropylene (PP) and High density polyethylene (HDPE)/Polypropylene (PP) blend with different biodegradable additives (Granular starch/iron oxide mixture, Bioefect 72000 and Mater-Bi AF05H) were selected for degradation experiments. All the samples, processed by injection as seedboxes, have been subjected to an outdoor soil burial test and removed at different periods of time between 0 and 21 months. Their chemical structure and morphology have been analysed. Studies of dynamic-mechanical relaxation spectra of the samples before and after each exposure time have been carried out. The three characteristic relaxation zones alpha, beta and gamma, in order of decreasing temperature, have been obtained. It has been observed that due to the degradation process both, the HDPE/PP blend and the PP matrix, become more brittle than the undegraded ones regardless of the additive used. Degradation seems to start from the molecular chains of the amorphous phase or interfacial region. However the analysis of the mechanical behaviour manifested that the crystalline zone is also been affected by the exposure time.