Degradation and Tensile Strength for Silk Fiber Reinforced Biodegradable Plastics

Concerning global environment protection and industrial waste disposal problem, biodegradable plastics are noticed. In the authors' previous paper, characteristics of the biodegradation and strength for the biodegradable plastic, Poly (butylen succinate) (PBS), and the PBS composite reinforced by cotton (PBS/CO) were examined.In this study, using a PBS composite material strengthened by silk fiber (PBS/SI), biodegradation and tensile tests were carried out as well as PBS/CO, and the properties of biodegradation and tensile strength for the PBS composites were examined. The mechanisms of the biodegradation and the property change in the tensile strength due to the biodegradation test were also discussed from the observation of surface and fracture surface of specimen after the biodegradation and tensile tests.Tensile strength in PBS/SI is much higher than that in PBS before the biodegradation test but decreases drastically after the biodegradation test. The reduction in strength attributes to the adhesion between fiber and matrix interface rather than the biodegradation.