Imagine a world where the plastics we use every day don’t contribute to overflowing landfills and environmental pollution. This is the promise of bioplastics – materials made from renewable resources and designed to break down naturally. However, bioplastics currently lag behind traditional plastics in terms of strength and durability, limiting their widespread adoption. Researchers at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) are tackling this challenge head-on, developing innovative ways to enhance the properties of bioplastics. Their work focuses on polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a type of biopolyester with great potential, but currently confined to niche applications like packaging and cosmetics.
The UTM team has successfully created PHA nanocomposites by blending PHA with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and a hybrid mixture of GNPs and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) using a solvent-free, industrially compatible melt blending method. The resulting materials exhibit significantly improved properties. The Young’s modulus, a measure of stiffness, roughly doubled compared to pure PHA, meaning they’re far more resistant to bending and deformation. Furthermore, the nanocomposites displayed enhanced thermal stability, making them suitable for a wider range of applications involving higher temperatures. The hybrid nanocomposites showed even better electrical conductivity at lower nanofiller loadings. This resulted in a 50% improvement in electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding compared to GNP-based nanocomposites, reaching shielding effectiveness above 20 dB – a threshold for many commercial applications, such as electronics packaging that protects devices from electromagnetic interference.
Most impressively, the thermal conductivity of the bioplastic increased significantly, reaching values around 5 W K-1 m-1 with the hybrid-based material leading the pack. This makes them exceptionally good at conducting heat, opening doors for applications in thermal management systems. The research indicates that solvent-free and industrially compatible production methods were used, meaning it is more environmentally friendly, cheaper and easier to scale up.
The enhanced properties of these PHA nanocomposites, particularly their improved strength, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity, significantly broadens the range of applications for bioplastics. From more durable packaging and components in electronic devices to advanced thermal management systems, this research paves the way for a more sustainable future for the plastics industry. The next steps involve exploring even more advanced nanofillers and optimizing the blending process to further enhance the performance of these bioplastics, bringing us closer to a world where plastics are both strong and environmentally friendly.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2025.108908
