Mesua ferrea L. seed oil based highly thermostable and biodegradable polyester/clay nanocomposites

Nanotechnology holds the prospective for pervasive and avant-garde changes to improve performance of materials. Mesua ferrea L. seed oil based highly thermostable and biodegradable polyester/clay nanocomposites have been prepared at different dose levels of nanoclay. The highly branched polyester resin was synthesized by condensation of 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl) propionic acid with M. ferrea L. seed oil based carboxyl terminated pre-polymer. FTIR, rheometric, XRD, SEM and TEM studies unmasked well-dispersed partially exfoliated nanocomposites with good interfacial interaction. The results showed 2.6 and 6 times increase of tensile strength and elongation at break respectively, and about 150 °C increase of thermostability by the influence of nanoclay loading (1-5 weight %) compared to the pristine polymer. Two strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PN8A1 and vs1) and one Bacillus subtilis strain (MTCC73) were used to study microbial degradation of pristine polymer and nanocomposite systems, with the revelation of enhanced degradation with increasing nanoclay loading.