Olaiya, NGNuryawan, AOke, PKAbdul Khalil, HPSRizal, SMogaji, PBSadiku, ERRay, Suprakas SFarayibi, PKOjijo, Vincent OParidah, MT2020-06-102020-06-102020-03Olaiya, N.G. (et.al). 2020. The role of two-step blending in the properties of starch/chitin/polylactic acid biodegradable composites for biomedical applications. Polymers, v12(3), 13pp.2073-4360https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/3/592https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12030592http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11457© 2020 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).The current research trend for excellentmiscibility in polymermixing is the use of plasticizers. The use of most plasticizers usually has some negative effects on the mechanical properties of the resulting composite and can sometimes make it toxic, which makes such polymers unsuitable for biomedical applications. This research focuses on the improvement of the miscibility of polymer composites using two-step mixing with a rheomixer and a mix extruder. Polylactic acid (PLA), chitin, and starch were produced after two-stepmixing, using a compressionmoldingmethod with decreasing composition variation (between 8%to 2%) of chitin and increasing starch content. Adynamicmechanical analysis (DMA) was used to study the mechanical behavior of the composite at various temperatures. The tensile strength, yield, elastic modulus, impact, morphology, and compatibility properties were also studied. The DMA results showed a glass transition temperature range of 50 C to 100 C for all samples, with a distinct peak value for the loss modulus and factor. The single distinct peak value meant the polymer blend was compatible. The storage and loss modulus increased with an increase in blending, while the loss factor decreased, indicating excellent compatibility and miscibility of the composite components. The mechanical properties of the samples improved compared to neat PLA. Small voids and immiscibility were noticed in the scanning electron microscopy images, and this was corroborated by X-ray diffraction graphs that showed an improvement in the crystalline nature of PLA with starch. Bioabsorption and toxicity tests showed compatibility with the rat system, which is similar to the human system.enPolylactic acidTwo-stepmixingBiodegradableBiomedicalArticleOlaiya, N., Nuryawan, A., Oke, P., Abdul Khalil, H., Rizal, S., Mogaji, P., ... Paridah, M. (2020). The role of two-step blending in the properties of starch/chitin/polylactic acid biodegradable composites for biomedical applications. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11457Olaiya, NG, A Nuryawan, PK Oke, HPS Abdul Khalil, S Rizal, PB Mogaji, ER Sadiku, et al "The role of two-step blending in the properties of starch/chitin/polylactic acid biodegradable composites for biomedical applications." (2020) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11457Olaiya N, Nuryawan A, Oke P, Abdul Khalil H, Rizal S, Mogaji P, et al. The role of two-step blending in the properties of starch/chitin/polylactic acid biodegradable composites for biomedical applications. 2020; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11457.TY - Article AU - Olaiya, NG AU - Nuryawan, A AU - Oke, PK AU - Abdul Khalil, HPS AU - Rizal, S AU - Mogaji, PB AU - Sadiku, ER AU - Ray, Suprakas S AU - Farayibi, PK AU - Ojijo, Vincent O AU - Paridah, MT AB - The current research trend for excellentmiscibility in polymermixing is the use of plasticizers. The use of most plasticizers usually has some negative effects on the mechanical properties of the resulting composite and can sometimes make it toxic, which makes such polymers unsuitable for biomedical applications. This research focuses on the improvement of the miscibility of polymer composites using two-step mixing with a rheomixer and a mix extruder. Polylactic acid (PLA), chitin, and starch were produced after two-stepmixing, using a compressionmoldingmethod with decreasing composition variation (between 8%to 2%) of chitin and increasing starch content. Adynamicmechanical analysis (DMA) was used to study the mechanical behavior of the composite at various temperatures. The tensile strength, yield, elastic modulus, impact, morphology, and compatibility properties were also studied. The DMA results showed a glass transition temperature range of 50 C to 100 C for all samples, with a distinct peak value for the loss modulus and factor. The single distinct peak value meant the polymer blend was compatible. The storage and loss modulus increased with an increase in blending, while the loss factor decreased, indicating excellent compatibility and miscibility of the composite components. The mechanical properties of the samples improved compared to neat PLA. Small voids and immiscibility were noticed in the scanning electron microscopy images, and this was corroborated by X-ray diffraction graphs that showed an improvement in the crystalline nature of PLA with starch. Bioabsorption and toxicity tests showed compatibility with the rat system, which is similar to the human system. DA - 2020-03 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Polylactic acid KW - Two-stepmixing KW - Biodegradable KW - Biomedical LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2020 SM - 2073-4360 T1 - The role of two-step blending in the properties of starch/chitin/polylactic acid biodegradable composites for biomedical applications TI - The role of two-step blending in the properties of starch/chitin/polylactic acid biodegradable composites for biomedical applications UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/11457 ER -