Development and characterization of environmentally friendly composites from poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and almond shell flour with different compatibilizers

This work reports the enhancement of the properties of poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) composites containing 30 wt% almond shell flour (ASF) by using different compatibilizer families: epoxy, maleic anhydride and acrylic. With regard to the epoxy compatibilizers, epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) and epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) were used. Two maleic anhydride-derived compatibilizers, namely, maleinized linseed oil (MLO) and dodecenyl succinic anhydride (DDSA) were used. Finally, two acrylic monomers, namely methyl methacrylate (MMA) and acrylic acid (AA) were employed. Uncompatibilized and compatibilized PBS/ASF composites were characterized in terms of their mechanical properties, morphology, thermal behaviour and thermomechanical performance. The obtained results suggest that all three vegetable oil-derived compatibilizers (ELO, ESBO and MLO) give a remarkable increase in ductile properties while poor compatibilization is obtained with the acrylic monomers. These vegetable-oil derived compatibilizers could represents an interesting environmentally friendly solution to compatibilizing polyester-type polymers and their composites with lignocellulosic materials.