EVALUATION ON TENSILE AND MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF CHITOSAN IN PBAT BIO-COMPOSITE

This study explores the processibility, tensile properties and morphological analysis of biodegradable composite based on Poly (butylene adipateco-terephthalate) (PBAT) as polymer matrix and chitosan as filler at different concentration, 0, 10, 20 and 30 wt.%. The composite sample with 30 wt.% (338 MPa) chitosan led to a higher increase of the tensile modulus of PBAT compared to the 10 wt.% (135 MPa) and 20 wt.% (275 MPa). Chitosan filler caused a drastic reduction of the tensile strength, 8.4 MPa to 3.8 MPa as the chitosan content increases from 0 wt.% to 30 wt.%. In addition, the morphological analysis suggests that the chitosan was evenly distributed in the PBAT matrix, even though it was agglomerated within the matrix. Furthermore, SEM analysis revealed a weak adherence between the matrix and the filler. The results demonstrate that the current study confirms the idea that chitosan can be effectively used as filler material to enhance the environmentally friendly qualities of polymers.