Morphology and functional properties of commercial polyhydroxyalkanoates: A comprehensive and comparative study

PHA is a bacterial biopolyester with growing industrial interest but still limited commercial availability. This study was dedicated to the characterization of some industrially mature PHAs, commercially available on an industrial scale. Such investigation was first devoted to the physico-chemical analysis of four grades of PHA provided by three different suppliers in order to determine their respective molar masses. Then, the study of their crystallization behaviour revealed a fast process with a relatively high level of crystallinity. Tensile tests brought information about the ageing effect on the mechanical properties of this fragile material. Finally, the investigations of the oxygen and water vapor barrier properties made in parallel with polypropylene (PP), polyamide 6 (PA6), polystyrene (PS) and polylactide (PLA) provided a good insight on the potential use of PHA for application in food packaging.