Polylactide, Polycaprolactone, and Rice Husk—Biocomposites for Biomedical and Packaging Applications

Abstract

ABSTRACT Polylactide (PLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) biocomposites were prepared with modified rice husk (RH). In this context, RH was treated with maleic anhydride (MA) and maleated PLA (i.e., coupling agent [CA]) forming modified RH (i.e., RH‐MA and RH‐CA, respectively). Several formulations were tested from biocomposites of PLA and PCL with different percentages of modified RH where the best results were obtained when using 5% with respect to the used mixing method. Pure PLA and PCL‐ modified RH biocomposites were first obtained, then each of them was further involved in cross blends' formation with each other. Different characteristics were studied for the prepared modified RH polymeric biocomposites for future expected applications in biomedical fields and packaging. Accordingly, several PLA and PCL‐ modified RH biocomposites were toxic on proliferation of cancer cells with inhibitory effect against biofilm formation of bacterial cells in case of MSSA or Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Also, the prepared biocomposites recorded low water vapor and oxygen transmission rates (WVTR, OTR) which indicated their possible application as packaging materials for food at low moisture level or for dry food.