Morphology and dielectric properties of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)/poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) blends with some antimicrobial applications

Poly(3-hydroxy) butyrate (PHB) is a microbial polyester, which provides the advantages of biodegradability and biocompatibility but it is brittle and has low abilities for some chemical modifications. To overcome such problems reactive blending was done with a glassy acrylic polymer, poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) with different compositions. The dielectric response of PHB/PMMA blend with different compositions were investigated as a function of frequency and at different temperatures. The results revealed the existence of single a-relaxation process indicating the miscibility of amorphous fractions of PHB and PMMA. Also the morphological study of such blends doesn't show macro phase separation of PMMA on the surface scan which may be attributed to the compatibility in melt between PHB and PMMA particles in the PHB matrix. The biological activity of such investigated systems against some pathogenic microorganisms was found to increase by increasing the amount of PMMA in the blend.