Poly(β-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) is a biotechnologically produced polyester, highly crystalline, totally biodegradable with low versatility in mechanical properties. To overcome this problem we performed a reactive blending procedure with a glassy acrylic polymer, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), via water suspension polymerisation of the acrylic monomer precursor onto poly(β-hydroxybutyrate). It was possible to isolate the co-polymeric phase formed between the two polymers and to characterize it using NMR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. Fracture tests on the blends gave a satisfactory response: in fact the Critical Energy Release Factor (Gc) calculated by Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanism (LEFM) theory of a PHB/PMMA 70/30 wt/wt blend is less than two times larger than that of neat PHB.
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Avella et al. (1998) studied this question.