Improving properties of wheat straw powder/poly (butylene succinate) composites toughened with poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) by γ-ray irradiation

The biodegradable wheat straw powder/PBS[poly (butylene succinate)]-PBAT[poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)] composites were prepared by melt-blending, wherein PBAT served as the toughening material. The composites were then subjected to γ-ray irradiation. The effects of PBAT content and different absorbed doses of ⁶⁰Co γ-ray irradiation on the thermal properties, mechanical properties, and gel content of the wheat straw powder/PBS-PBAT composites were studied. The results showed that the impact strength of the composite increased by 13% when the mass fraction of PBAT was 30%. The mechanical properties and gel content of wheat straw powder/PBS-PBAT improved with increasing absorbed doses. The complete thermal decomposition temperature of the wheat straw powder/PBS-PBAT composite irradiated by ⁶⁰Co γ-rays was 550 ℃, which increased by 50 ℃ or so. (authors)