Preparation of Fast Degradable Bio-based Polyester/thermoplastic starch Blends based on epoxidized soybean oil

The development of bio-based and biodegradable polymers has become a necessity due to the limitation of single-use plastics and carbon emission. In this work, the regulatory effect of TPS with different plasticizing systems on the degradation rate of novel copolyester PBSSeSa-c-M/TPS blends. Furthermore, the processing and molding properties were studied to explore the feasibility of application. The results indicated that the introduction of TPS-ESO enhanced the load-bearing and lifting performance of the blend films, enabling them to meet the load-bearing test of 3.5 kg. For samples with TPS-ESO1, the degradation rate reached 33.4% in the fourth week, which was 15.2% higher than that of the copolyester. When the amount of ESO was further increased to 3 parts by mass, the degradation rate reached 38.8%, representing a 35.1% increase compared to the copolyester. Considering the film blowing processability, load-bearing capacity of the film bags, and degradation rate, the optimal addition amount of ESO in TPS was determined to be 1–2 parts by mass.