Effect of Cellulose Nanocrystals and Bacterial Cellulose on Disintegrability in Composting Conditions of Plasticized PHB Nanocomposites.

Poly(hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)-based films, reinforced with bacterial cellulose (BC) or cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and plasticized using a molecular (tributyrin) or a polymeric plasticizer (poly(adipate diethylene)), were produced by solvent casting. Their morphological, thermal, wettability, and chemical properties were investigated. Furthermore, the effect of adding both plasticizers (20 wt % respect to the PHB content) and biobased selected nanofillers added at different contents (2 and 4 wt %) on disintegrability in composting conditions was studied.