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Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are environmentally friendly and biodegradable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics derived from bacteria, that decompose under ambient conditions. However, commonly used short chain length (SCL) PHAs, in particular, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co -3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), tend to be rigid and brittle inhibiting their wider usage. To address this, self-reinforced PHA monomaterial films, varying only by the comonomers in their backbone structure, were prepared using both electrospinning and electrospraying techniques. PHBV, a SCL-PHA, was electrospun as the highly crystalline fiber phase, while poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co -3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBH), a medium-chain-length (MCL) PHA, was electrosprayed as the flexible low crystalline matrix phase. The resulting self-reinforced PHA monomaterial films were annealed below the melting point of PHBV to improve fiber matrix adhesion and increase mechanical properties. These self-reinforced PHA monomaterial films were then characterized to assess their suitability for sustainable packaging and piezoelectric applications, showing promising results.
Heidarian et al. (Mon,) studied this question.