In this study PLA and PHB were melt-blended with/without maleic anhydride (MA) as a compatibilizer and melt-spun into a monofilament. The aquatic biodegradation of PLA/PHB fibers was tracked regarding the PLA and PHB components and the total carbon in the blend. Pure PLA fiber was recalcitrant to aquatic biodegradation in the present conditions, whereas PHB was readily degradable, as expected. The 75/25% and 50/50% PLA/PHB fibers showed zero biodegradation. The 25/75% PLA/PHB blend showed only an 11% final biodegradation extent and a 13% PHB biodegradation extent. It is shown that an unintended consequence of blending PLA with PHB is that after biodegradation, micro/nano plastic pollution is evolved. MA increased the miscibility, which further decreased the PHB biodegradation. The lower biodegradation extent with MA indicates that increased miscibility and more intimate coverage of the biodegradable polymer with the unbiodegradable polymer may have a negative effect on the biodegradation of biodegradable polymers.

在这项研究中，PLA 和 PHB 在有/无马来酸酐 (MA) 作为增容剂的情况下熔融共混，并熔纺成单丝。跟踪了 PLA/PHB 纤维的水生生物降解情况，包括共混物中的 PLA 和 PHB 成分以及总碳。在目前的条件下，纯 PLA 纤维难以水生生物降解，而 PHB 则如预期的那样易于降解。75/25% 和 50/50% PLA/PHB 纤维显示出零生物降解。25/75% PLA/PHB 混合物的最终生物降解程度仅为 11%，PHB 生物降解程度为 13%。结果表明，PLA 与 PHB 共混的一个意想不到的后果是，生物降解后，会产生微/纳米塑料污染。MA 增加了混溶性，进一步降低了 PHB 的生物降解性。MA的较低生物降解程度表明可生物降解聚合物与不可生物降解聚合物的可混溶性的增加和更紧密的覆盖可能对可生物降解聚合物的生物降解产生负面影响。