Technological watch

Modification of low density polyethylene (LDPE) films by blending with Polylactic acid (PLA) and Starch (St) were carried out. Also, the study describes the comparison of two curing methods one by thermal curing at 70°C and the other is radiation curing at dose 20?kGy for the bioblend film composed of LDPE/PLA/St with composition (98%:1%:1% wt%). The efficiency of modification was determined by using different devices such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), mechanical, TGA, and XRD. In addition, the properties of the different bioblends were compared with other synthetic polymers such as commercial LDPE and blank LDPE. The results show that the improved properties of radiation cured method at dose 20?kGy than thermal treatment method at 70°C. The radiation cured bioblend film show good thermal stability either shown by the TGA results or against heating aging from ambient temperature up to 60°C than thermally treated blend film at 70°C. The radiation cured bioblend film found to be stable against UV? exposure with increasing time of exposure up to 30?min at higher wavelength (? = 320?nm), which simulate ultraviolet radiation from sunshine. The modified properties of prepared radiation cured bioblend film are due to increase in interfacial adhesion bond between LDPE, PLA, and Starch by effect of irradiation dose at 20?kGy. The modified radiation cured bioblend films at 20?kGy can be applied in different fields such as packaging due to improvement in chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties that could partially replace the traditional petrochemical plastics.