Abstract
The current crisis in solid waste management and greenhouse gas emission has focused attention on the development of bio-based biodegradable materials like poly(lactic acid), PLA. New sheath⁄core type of bi-component spunbond fabrics made from poly(butylene succinate) (PBS)⁄PLA have been developed to improve the flexibility of PLA spunbond fabric, and were studied on the biodegradation behaviors in natural environment, such as in soil or in compost, by tensile tests and electron microscopic observations, followed by discussion on the crosslinking effect of the PBS component to improve spinnability. As a result, it was concluded that the crosslinking had a tendency to decrease the rate of biodegradation and the non-crosslinked PBS⁄PLA spunbond fabric has an excellent compostability comparable to conventional PLA one in compost. A SEM photograph of the spunbond fabrics subjected to composting and soil burial showed that a number of fine cracks appeared perpendicular to the fibre axis. It was supposed thathydrolytic degradation occurred preferably in the amorphous regions sandwiched between two crystalline zones of so-called ‘shish-kebab’ structure.
