Influence of TiO2 nanoparticle on the thermal, morphological and molecular characteristics of PHB matrix

PHB/TiO2 nanocomposites were prepared and characterized in terms of thermal, morphological and molecular dynamic characteristics. The TGA analysis revealed that all the PHB systems containing TiO2 presented an increment in thermal stability. From XRD analysis, it was seen that between 30 and 90 °C the systems did not present significant differences regarding their crystalline profiles. On the other hand, presence of TiO2 nanoparticles promoted notable changes, revealing that they can act as nucleating agent for PHB. The systems were also investigated by T1H measurement, combining different experimental NMR techniques. The main NMR results showed that FFC-NMR provided more detailed information about molecular motion in different time and length scales. It was seen that TiO2 addition changed the dynamic molecular behavior of the PHB matrix for chain segments containing more than fifty carbon atoms.