Interactions in polymers blends of Sodium Alginate and Poly (ɛ-Caprolactone)

Abstract

Blends between polymers have arisen as a result of the necessity to obtain materials that have some properties of a polymer and other properties of another, instead to synthesize a new one with desired properties. A simple way to reach these objectives could be to join two polymers to obtain a mixture that would have properties of both. Biopolymers materials have been considered a viable and natural alternative of the traditional polymeric materials. It has been found that biopolymers have several advantages over traditional polymeric materials, which include its environmental impact compared to petrochemical polymers, low energy consumption involved in their production, status of renewable resource, its biodegradability feature, among others. These aspects are very important as a contribution to the “Green Chemistry”. An interesting biopolymer is the Sodium Alginate (ALG) Alginate is a copolymer composed of binary - D mannuronic acid (M) and -L guluronic acid (G), both connected by joints 1-4 and the type occurring in blocks GM, LM, and GG 1.