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Development of albumen/soy biobased plastic materials processed by injection molding

Félix Ángel, Manuel; Martín Alfonso, José Enrique; Romero García, Alberto; Guerrero Conejo, Antonio Francisco

Abstract

Biobased plastics from renewable polymers constitute a highly interesting field for relevant industrial applications such as packaging, agriculture, etc., in which thermomechanical techniques (i.e. extrusion, compression molding, etc.) are increasingly being used. In spite of the potentials of injection molding in the manufacture of shaped products it is still scarcely used with biopolymers. This study evaluates injection molding as an alternative to produce biobased materials from blends prepared in a mixing rheometer, using different albumen/soy ratios and glycerol as the plasticizer. Viscoelastic measurements and DSC of protein/glycerol blends were used to select suitable processing conditions. Physicochemical properties of injection-molded probes were characterized through dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, tensile strength, water uptake and transmittance tests. Occurrence of shear-induced effects over mixing was confirmed by extractability analysis of protein concentrates and blends, particularly for soy-based systems. Both proteins and their mixtures yield injection-molded bioplastics, although showing lower mechanical properties than LDPE standards.

Full text

1 De elopmen o albumen/soy biobased plas ic ma e ials 1 p ocessed by injec ion molding 2 M. Félix, J.E. Ma ín-Al onso, A. Rome o*, A. Gue e o 3 Depa amen o de Ingenie ía Química, Uni e sidad de Se illa, Facul ad de Química, 41012 4 Se illa, Spain 5 Abs ac 6 Biobased plas ics om enewable polyme s cons i u e a highly in e es ing ield o 7 ele an indus ial applica ions such as packaging, ag icul u e, e c., in which 8 he momechanical echniques (i.e. ex usion, comp ession molding, e c.) a e 9 inc easingly being used. In spi e o he po en ials o injec ion molding in he 10 manu ac u e o shaped p oduc s i is s ill sca cely used wi h biopolyme s. This s udy 11 e alua es injec ion molding as an al e na i e o p oduce biobased ma e ials om 12 blends p epa ed in a mixing heome e , using di e en albumen/soy a ios and glyce ol 13 as he plas icize . Viscoelas ic measu emen s and DSC o p o ein/glyce ol blends we e 14 used o selec sui able p ocessing condi ions. Physicochemical p ope ies o injec ion- 15 molded p obes we e cha ac e ized h ough dynamic mechanical he mal analysis, 16 ensile s eng h, wa e up ake and ansmi ance es s. Occu ence o shea -induced 17 e ec s o e mixing was con i med by ex ac abili y analysis o p o ein concen a es and 18 blends, pa icula ly o soy-based sys ems. Bo h p o eins and hei mix u es yield 19 injec ion-molded bioplas ics, al hough showing lowe mechanical p ope ies han LDPE 20 s anda ds. 21 Keywo ds: Albumen; Bioplas ic; Dynamic Mechanical The mal Analysis; Soy P o ein; 22 Tensile s eng h es ; T ansmi ance. 23 _______________________ 24 *A. ROMERO 25 Depa amen o de Ingenie ía Química, 26 2 Uni e sidad de Se illa, Facul ad de Química, 27 41012 Se illa (Spain) 28 E-mail: al ome [email protected] 29 Phone: +34 954557179; ax: +34 954556447. 30 1. In oduc ion 31 Plas ic ma e ials a e cu en ly conside ed e y impo an ma e ials due o hei 32 excep ional p ope ies and pe o mance o e o he ma e ials such as me al and wood 33 (Plas ic Eu ope, 2008). In ac , acco ding o a ecen epo , he demand o plas ic will 34 con inue o ise ollowing a end ha has inc eased since 1950s (Plas ics Eu ope e 35 al., 2008). Nowadays, he subs i u ion o pe oleum-based plas ics wi h bio-based 36 plas ics is seen as a p omising al e na i e because i will educe he dependency o 37 plas ics on ossil uels and he p essu e on land ills om plas ic solid was es (Al a ez- 38 Cha ez e al., 2012). In ecen yea s he e has been a g ea in e es o u ilize 39 enewable biomass in he manu ac u e o high-quali y, cos -compe i i e and 40 biodeg adable consume goods as a means o educe he consump ion and he 41 dependence on pe ochemical eeds ock and o diminish en i onmen al pollu ion 42 (Rosen a e and O ieno, 2006; Tummala e al., 2006). In pa icula , packaging ilms 43 and con aine s made o na u al biopolyme s ep esen a pa icula in e es due o hei 44 biodeg adabili y, since mos o hese p oduc s ha e a ela i e sho se ice li e ending 45 up in land ills. In his sense, p o ein-based ma e ials ha e been p o ed o be 46 comple ely deg ading in 50 days when bu ied in a mland soils (Domenek e al., 2004). 47 P o eins, lipids and polysaccha ides ha e been p oposed as biopolyme s sou ces 48 o many yea s (A e ous, 2004; De G aa , 2000; He nández-Izquie do and K och a, 49 2008; I issin-Manga a e al., 2001; Si acusa e al., 2008). Rega ding p o eins, mos 50 s udies ha e used plan p o eins such as zein, whea glu en o soybean o manu ac u e 51 bioplas ics (Cuq e al., 1998; Gomez-Ma inez e al., 2013; Je ez e al., 2005; Kim, 52 2008; Zheng e al., 2003). Mo eo e , some wo ks ha e been ocused on animal 53 3 p o eins such as milk p o eins, collagen, gela in, e c. (Cuq e al., 1998; Pomme e al., 54 2003). 55 Soy p o ein is he majo cop oduc o soybean oil and is one o he cheapes 56 p o eins in na u e (Tian e al., 2012). In ac , soy p o eins ha e commonly been used 57 o ood and animal eed o many yea s. Howe e , soy p o ein is a new polyme o 58 biodeg adable esins. Soy p o ein polyme s a e mac omolecules ha con ain a numbe 59 o amino acids and side chains ha can be used in he manu ac u e o plas ic (Sun e 60 al., 1999). The mechanical p ope ies o soy p o ein based plas ics can be con olled 61 and op imized by adjus ing he ini ial mois u e con en as well as some p ocessing 62 pa ame e s such as he molding empe a u e and/o p essu e (Wang e al., 2007; Liang 63 e al., 1999; Mo e al., 1999; Jane and Wang, 1996; Pa eau e al., 1994). Howe e , he 64 applica ion o soy p o ein plas ics is limi ed because o i s low s eng h (Tummala e al., 65 2006) and high mois u e abso p ion (Liu e al., 2005). The e o e, i can be concluded 66 ha he mos e ec i e me hod is o blend soy p o ein wi h ano he biodeg adable 67 polyme . Cu en ly, soy-based blends o plas ic applica ions include polyphospha e 68 (O aigbe and Adams, 1997), polyes e s (G ai e e al., 2004; Liu e al., 2004), 69 polyu e hane (Tian e al., 2010) o na u al ibe s (Liu e al., 2005). On he o he hand, 70 no epo s on he enhancemen o soy-based plas ic ma e ials by using a combina ion 71 wi h o he p o eins ha e been ound. 72 Egg whi e p o ein (albumen), adi ionally used by he ood indus y, has ecen ly 73 p o ed he easibili y o p oduce bioplas ics (Je ez e al., 2007b). Mo eo e , i 74 compa ed o o he common p o eins like glu en, egg whi e has p o ed o be an 75 adequa e aw ma e ial in he ob aining o highly- anspa en bioplas ics wi h sui able 76 mechanical p ope ies o he manu ac u e o biodeg adable ood packaging and o he 77 plas ic p oduc s. Blends o his p o ein wi h o he p oduc s om ag icul u al sou ces, 78 biodeg adable and o lowe cos han p o ein and syn he ic addi i es ha e been 79 ecen ly p oposed (González-Gu ie ez e al., 2010). 80 4 A p o ein-based ma e ial could be de ined as a s able h ee-dimensional 81 mac omolecula ne wo k s abilized and s eng hened by hyd ogen bonds, hyd ophobic 82 in e ac ions and disul ide bonds (Pomme e al., 2003). Howe e , as p o eins 83 hemsel es do no ha e su icien plas ici y o be handled and b i le p ope ies a e 84 ypically ound in bioplas ics, a plas icize is equi ed. The ole o plas icize s in 85 educing he glass ansi ion empe a u e and p o iding mobili y o polyme ic chains 86 has been ex ensi ely desc ibed (I issin-Manga a e al., 2001; Ma ee e al., 2000; 87 Pouplin e al., 1999). Due o i s excellen p ope ies, glyce ol is among he mos 88 commonly used plas icize s o biopolyme -based biodeg adable ma e ials. 89 P o ein/plas icize blends (bioplas ics) can be p ocessed using exis ing plas ic 90 p ocessing echnologies: om he physic-chemical o cas ing me hod (Gennadios, 91 2002) o he mo-plas ic/mechanical me hod (comp ession molding o ex usion) (Je ez 92 e al., 2007a; González-Gu ié ez e al., 2011). Howe e , a ele an echnique such as 93 injec ion molding, which is among he mos common p ocessing me hods used wi h 94 syn he ic polyme s, has no been ound o be used o p o ein-based bioplas ic 95 applica ions. The po en ial use o p o ein-based injec ion molding o p oduce many 96 kinds o shaped p oduc s will en ail new a gumen s in a o o conside ing hese 97 biopolyme ma e ials as an al e na i e o syn he ic plas ics o di e en applica ions. 98 The o e all objec i e has been o s udy plas icized albumen/soy biobased plas ic 99 ma e ials p ocessed by injec ion molding. To achie e his objec i e, di e en 100 albumen/soy a ios plas icized wi h glyce ol ha e been p ocessed. In addi ion, some 101 a iables such as empe a u e and esidence ime in he p e-injec ion mixing chambe , 102 as well as he empe a u e o he mold ha e been also analyzed in o de o selec 103 sui able p ocessing pa ame e s o p o ein-based injec ion molding. 104 2. Ma e ial and me hods 105 2.1. Ma e ials 106 5 Comme cial sp ay-d ied albumen (AP) was p o ided by OVOSEC S.A and soy 107 p o ein isola e (SPI) was supplied by P o ein Technologies In e na ional (SUPRO 108 500E, Lepe , Belgium). The p o ein con en o bo h p oduc s was de e mined in 109 quad uplica e as % N x 6.25 using a LECO CHNS-932 ni ogen mic o analyze (Leco 110 Co po a ion, S . Joseph, MI, USA) (E he idge e al., 1998) being 83 w .% o AP and 91 111 w .% o SPI. Glyce ol (GL), om Pan eac Química, S.A. (Spain), was used as p o ein 112 plas icize . 113 2.2. Sample p epa a ion 114 Blends con aining 60 w .% p o ein, wi h di e en AP/SPI a ios as shown in Table 1, 115 and 40 w .% glyce ol (GL) we e mixed in a wo-blade coun e - o a ing ba ch mixe 116 (B abende Plas og aph, Ge many). Mixing p ocess was ca ied ou a 25ºC and 50 117 pm o c.a. 10 min (Je ez e al., 2005) o ob ain a dough-like ma e ial a neu al pH. 118 The inal pH alue was measu ed by a C ison pH 25 pHme e in combina ion wi h a 119 punc u e elec ode (C ison Ins umen s S.A., Ba celona, Spain). 120 The dough-like ma e ials ob ained a e he mixing p ocess we e subsequen ly 121 p ocessed by injec ion molding using a MiniJe Pis on Injec ion Molding Sys em 122 (The moHaake, Ka ls uhe, Ge many) o ob ain bioplas ic p obes. The mos sui able 123 p ocessing a iables, such as injec ion empe a u e and p essu e, as well as esidence 124 ime in he p e-injec ion mixing chambe , we e selec ed a e pe o ming empe a u e 125 amp and ime sweep es s o he dough-like ma e ials. Two ypes o molds we e used 126 o p epa e he p obes: a 60×10×1 mm ec angula shape mold o bo h DMTA 127 expe imen s and anspa ency measu emen s and a Dumpbell ype p obe de ined by 128 ISO 527-2:1993 o Tensile P ope ies o Plas ics. 129 2.3. Cha ac e iza ion 130 2.3.1. P o ein solubili y. P o ein solubili y a di e en pH alues was de e mined. 131 Aqueous dispe sions (c.a. 1.00 g p o ein/40 mL) we e p epa ed and pH o di e en 132 aliquo s was adjus ed o alkaline pH alues wi h 6 N NaOH, and o acid pH wi h 2 N 133 6 HCl. Samples we e homogenized and subsequen ly cen i uged o 20 min a 10,000 x 134 g a 10ºC. The supe na an we e collec ed o p o ein con en de e mina ion by means 135 o he Ma kwell me hod (Ma kwell e al., 1978). Solubili y was exp essed as a 136 pe cen age (g soluble p o ein/100 g isola e in sample). 137 2.3.2. P o ein ex ac abili y. Samples we e ex ac ed in di e en ex ac ion media (2.5 138 mL): dis illed wa e ; a dena u ing agen solu ion (Me hod A); a solu ion o dena u ing 139 and educing agen s (Me hod B). All he ma e ials we e ex ac ed o 2h a 20ºC by 140 magne ic agi a ion (app oxima ely 400 pm). Me hod A used a 0.086 mol L-1 T is-base, 141 0.045 mmol·L-1 glycine, 2 mmol·L-1 EDTA, 10 g·L-1, 5 g·L-1 Sodium Dodecyl Sul a e 142 (SDS) pH 8 bu e . In me hod B, p o eins we e dissol ed in he same bu e con aining 143 10 g·L-1 Di hio h ei ol (DTT). Dispe sions we e cen i uged a 10,000 x g o 15 min a 144 15ºC and p o ein con en was de e mined by a LECO CHNS-932 ni ogen mic o 145 analyze . Simila me hods we e p e iously used by he au ho s wi h p o ein gels 146 (Rome o e al., 2011). P o ein solubili y was de e mined om supe na an and 147 exp essed as 100x p o ein con en in he supe na an / o al p o ein con en . Th ee 148 independen ex ac ions we e ca ied ou wi h each sol en . A e age alues (±s anda d 149 de ia ion) a e epo ed. 150 2.3.3. F ee and o al sul hyd yls. F ee and o al sul hyd yl g oups o p o ein samples 151 we e de e mined using he me hod de eloped by Be e idge e al. (1974) and 152 Thannhause e al. (1984), espec i ely. Samples we e suspended (1 mg/mL) in 0.086 153 mol/L T is-HCl – 0.09 mol/L glycine – 4 mmol/L EDTA – 8 mol/L u ea – pH 8 bu e . 154 Dispe sions we e s i ed a 25 ºC du ing 10 min a 500 pm in a he momixe and hen 155 cen i uged a 15,000g (10 min, 10 ºC). Supe na an was incuba ed wi h Ellman’s 156 eagen (4mg DTNB/mL me hanol) and 1 mL NTSB was used in he case o he o al 157 sul hyd yls. Abso bance a 412 nm was measu ed in a Genesis-20 spec opho ome e 158 (The mo Scien i ic, USA). The mola ex inc ion coe icien o NTB (13,600 L·mol-1·cm-1) 159 7 was used. P o ein concen a ion o ex ac s was de e mined by he B ad o d me hod 160 (B ad o d, 1976). 161 2.3.4. Su ace hyd ophobici y o p o eins (H0). Su ace hyd ophobici y (H0) o soluble 162 p o eins om p o ein ex ac s (pH 8) was measu ed acco ding o Ka o and Nakai 163 (1980), using he luo escen p obe 1-anilino-8-naph alene-sul ona e (ANS). P o ein 164 ex ac we e dilu ed wi h pH 8-0.05 M phospha e bu e o ob ain p o ein concen a ions 165 anging om 5 o 0.005 mg/mL. Then, 40 μL o ANS (8.0 mM in he same bu e ) we e 166 added o 2 mL o sample. Fluo escence in ensi y (FI) was measu ed wi h a Pe kin- 167 Elme 2000 luo escence spec ome e (Pe kin-Elme Co p. No walk, CT, USA), a 168 wa eleng hs o 365 nm (exci a ion) and 484 nm (emission). The ini ial slope o 169 luo escence in ensi y e sus p o ein concen a ion plo was used as an index o 170 p o ein hyd ophobici y (H0). 171 2.3.5. Di e en ial Scanning Calo ime y (DSC). DSC expe imen s we e pe o med wi h 172 a Q20 (TA Ins umen s, USA), using 5 o 10 mg samples, in he me ic aluminum pans. 173 A hea ing a e o 10 ºC/min was selec ed. The sample was pu ged wi h a ni ogen low 174 o 50 mL/min. 175 2.3.6. Rheological measu emen s. Dough-like ma e ial was cha ac e ized by Small 176 Ampli ude Oscilla o y Shea (SAOS) measu emen s, using a con olled-s ain 177 heome e (ARES), in o de o selec he op imum condi ions o injec ion molding. The 178 geome y used has been a pla e and pla e geome y (dia: 25 mm) wi h a ough su ace 179 and a gap be ween pla es o 1 mm. Low iscosi y Dow Co ning 200 luid has been 180 used as sealan o a oid sample d ying. S ain sweep SAOS es s we e also pe o med 181 in o de o es ablish he linea iscoelas ici y ange. Tempe a u e amp es s we e 182 ca ied ou a 5 ºC/min om 20 o 100 ºC and ime sweep es s we e pe o med o 183 1800 s a a selec ed cons an empe a u e. In hese measu emen s, complex iscosi y 184 (  *) was moni o ed a a cons an equency o 2 ad/s. All he sys ems s udied had he 185 same he mo heological his o y be o e pe o ming any heological es . 186 8 2.3.7. Dynamic Mechanical Tempe a u e Analysis (DMTA). DMTA es s we e ca ied 187 ou wi h a RSA3 (TA Ins umen s, New Cas le, DE, USA), on ec angula p obes using 188 dual can ile e bending. All he expe imen s we e ca ied ou a cons an equency 189 (1Hz) and s ain (be ween 0.01 and 0.3%, wi hin he linea iscoelas ic egion). The 190 selec ed hea ing a e was 3ºC min−1. All he samples we e coa ed wi h Dow Co ning 191 high acuum g ease o a oid wa e loss. 192 2.3.8. Tensile s eng h measu emen s. Tensile es s we e pe o med by using he 193 Insigh 10 kN Elec omechanical Tes ing Sys em (MTS, Eden P ai ie, MN, USA), 194 acco ding o by ISO 527-2:1993 o Tensile P ope ies o Plas ics. Tensile s ess and 195 elonga ion a b eak we e e alua ed om a leas h ee duplica es o each p oduc 196 using ype IV p obes and an ex ensional a e o 100 mm·min−1 a oom empe a u e. 197 2.3.9. Wa e abso p ion capaci y. Wa e up ake o bioplas ics was de e mined ollowing 198 he ASTM D570 no m (ASTM D570-98, S anda d es Me hod o Wa e Abso p ion o 199 Plas ics) (ASTM, 2001) using a leas h ee 60×10×1 mm specimens imme sed in 200 dis illa e wa e o 2h o 24 h a oom empe a u e. 201 2.3.10. T anspa ency Measu emen s. T anspa ency measu emen s we e done by 202 means o a Genesis-20 spec opho ome e (The mo Scien i ic, USA). T ansmi ance 203 (%) o ec angula specimens, 3 mm hick, was measu ed using a wa eleng h o 600 204 nm. Ai was used as blank (100% ansmi ance). A ansmi ance index (IT) was 205 de ined in o de o compa e he anspa ency o he di e en bioplas ic. 206 𝐼𝑇=𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 (%) 𝐴𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑛 − 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 (%) ∙100 (1) 207 2.4. S a is ical analysis 208 A leas h ee eplica es o each measu emen we e ca ied ou . S a is ical analyses 209 we e pe o med using - es and one-way analysis o a iance (ANOVA, p0.05) by 210 9 means o he s a is ical package SPSS 18. S anda d de ia ions om some selec ed 211 pa ame e s we e calcula ed. 212 3. Resul s and discussion 213 3.1. P o ein solubili y 214 Fig. 1 shows he solubili y-pH p o ile ob ained o bo h AP and SPI sys ems. AP 215 sys em displays high solubili y alues wi hin he whole expe imen al ange o pH 216 alues, showing alues highe han 80 w .%. These esul s suppo he high hyd ophilic 217 cha ac e o AP sys em which is clea ly domina ed by i s high con en in highly soluble 218 albumin p o eins. Thus, almos 70% o p o ein in egg whi e is o oalbumin and 219 conalbumin (Che el e al., 1989). This high solubili y akes place e en a he minimum 220 shown in Fig.1 obse ed a pH 5.8-6, which should co espond o he isoelec ic poin 221 (IEP). Howe e , he IEP o egg whi e has been epo ed o be sligh ly lowe since Loeb 222 (1923) epo ed a alue o 4.8, while he IEP is loca ed a 5.4 acco ding o Riddick 223 (1968). These alues a e consis en wi h he esul s ob ained om z-po en ial 224 measu emen s (da a no shown) pe o med o his AP sys em ha exhibi ed a null 225 alue a pH a ound 5. 226 SPI exhibi s much lowe solubili y alues han AP sys em, showing a maximum 227 solubili y (ca. 36%) a pH 8 and a minimum (ca. 7.2%) a pH 6. Howe e , a wide low- 228 solubili y ange (lowe han 10%) may be no iced be ween pH 3 and 6. Molina-O iz e 229 al. (2004) epo ed highe solubili y alues, pa icula ly a acidic pH, wi h a much 230 na owe minimum a pH 4.5 o SPI p epa ed om a non he mally ea ed soy lou ( o 231 a oid p o ein dena u a ion). Thus, he ex ension o he low solubili y p o ile o he 3-6 232 pH ange migh be a ibu ed o some p o ein dena u a ion du ing SPI manu ac u e. 233 I is also in e es ing o men ion ha he solubili y p o ile shows a second minimum a 234 pH 9. This minimum, al hough being less appa en , has been also de ec ed by F anzen 235 and Kinsella (1976) o a SPI showing much highe solubili y a alkaline pH. 236 3.2. Disul ide and sul hyd yl g oups 237 16 p o ein-based bioplas ic ma e ials (Je ez e al., 2007a, 2007b; Zá a e-Ramí ez e al., 401 2011), indica es ha some he mose ing po en ial s ill emains a e injec ion molding 402 a he expe imen al condi ions. These esul s con i m ha he condi ions selec ed o 403 injec ion molding, summa ized in Table 5, a e mo e sui able o SPI-based p obes. As 404 o he AP/SPI-based bioplas ics, he beha io is much close o ha one ound o he 405 SPI/GL sys em. The AP/SPI mixed sys ems show an in e media e beha io , being only 406 appa en a empe a u es highe han 60ºC. 407 The highe iscoelas ic p ope ies shown by he sys em con aining AP as he only 408 p o ein may be ela ed o some o he physicochemical p ope ies p e iously shown. 409 Thus, he lowes empe a u e o he DSC peak shown in Fig. 3 (much lowe han he 410 p ocessing empe a u e) would lead o a high deg ee o dena u a ion o his sys em. 411 This e ec would lead o a highe su ace hyd ophoboci y ha in any case is highe o 412 AP (Table 3) ha would p oduce a highe inc ease in p o ein agg ega ion. In addi ion, 413 he highe alue o ee sul hyd yls shown by AP (Table 2) would also yield a highe 414 densi y o c osslinking by o ming hyd ogen bonds. Simila esul s ha e been epo ed 415 by Bounoco e e al. (2003) ha also explained his beha io in e ms o he mal 416 induced c osslinking. 417 All he p obes s udied display simila loss angen p o iles (Fig. 4B) showing one 418 single peak, which is ela ed o a glass-like ansi ion o he plas icized p o ein-based 419 ma e ial, wi h an 𝛿 alues anging om 0.1 o 0.5, excep ing o he AP/GL sys em ha 420 shows a much lowe an 𝛿 peak a ca. 0.34. These unimodal p o iles indica e a good 421 compa ibili y be ween p o ein and glyce ol, ob ained o all he sys ems a e he 422 injec ion molding p ocess, ega dless o he p o ein used (AP, SPI o AP/SPI mix u es). 423 The alue o he empe a u e a he peak o he AP/GL sys em is ca. 63ºC, which is 424 a he coinciden wi h hose alues p e iously ound o albumen-based bioplas ic 425 p epa ed by comp ession molding wi h he same p o ein/glyce ol a io (Je ez e al., 426 2007a, González-Gu ie ez e al., 2010). As may be obse ed in he plo included in 427 Fig.4B, his empe a u e a he peak inc eases asymp o ically wi h he ela i e 428 17 p opo ion o SPI in he p o ein mix u e up o a alue o ca. 78.5ºC. This ea lie 429 ansi ion ound o AP/GL bioplas ics is also consis en wi h he ea lie Tg ob ained o 430 AP/GL blends om DSC measu emen s. 431 3.8. Uniaxial ensile s eng h measu emen s 432 The esul s ob ained om uniaxial s eng h measu emen s a e shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 433 5A displays he esul s o s ess-s ain cu es ob ained o p o ein-based bioplas ics 434 using AP, SPI and 50:50 AP/SPI mix u es. 435 All he cu es exhibi an ini ial linea elas ic beha io o high cons an s ess-s ain 436 slope yielding high alues o he Young’s Modulus (E), ollowed by a plas ic 437 de o ma ion s age wi h a con inuous dec ease in he s ess-s ain slope a e he elas ic 438 limi . A second cons an slope is eached a he end o his plas ic de o ma ion s age. 439 All he cu es e en ually each a maximum alue o he s ess (max) and he s ain 440 (εmax), which is immedia ely ollowed by a sudden dec ease in s ess ha co esponds 441 o he up u e o he sample. Fig. 5B shows he alues o he h ee pa ame e s (E, max 442 and εmax) om ensile es s pe o med on AP/SPI/GL bioplas ic p obes, as a unc ion o 443 he albumen con en in he AP/SPI mix u e. Pa ame e s (max) and E show a 444 p og essi e inc ease wi h inc easing albumen con en , wi h an o e all g ow h in he 445 o de o 50% o bo h pa ame e s. Pa ame e εmax also unde goes an inc ease up o 446 50% AP concen a ion. Howe e , a u he inc ease up o 100% does no lead o any 447 signi ican di e ence. The e o e, i may be gene ally s a ed ha AP-based bioplas ics 448 exhibi be e ensile p ope ies han SPI-based sys ems in acco dance o he highes 449 alues also ound o he elas ic modulus om DMA measu emen s and he lowes Td 450 ob ained wi h DSC es s. 451 In any case, all he P o ein/GL bioplas ic p obes exhibi ensile p ope ies lowe han 452 syn he ic polyme s such as LDPE. Thus, pa ame e s max, εmax and E show alues ha 453 each as much as 15%, 18% and 10%, espec i ely, o he alues o ASTM 454 no malized LDPE (ASTM D638). 455 18 3.9. Wa e up ake capaci y 456 Fig. 6 shows he esul s om wa e up ake measu emen s ob ained a e imme sion 457 o bioplas ic samples o 2 and 24 h, as well as he wa e -soluble ma e loss, as a 458 unc ion o AP con en . 459 No signi ican di e ences be ween wa e up ake pe cen ages a e 2 and 24 h a e 460 ound, ega dless o he AP/SPI a io used in he bioplas ic p epa a ion by injec ion 461 molding. This ac indica es occu ence o ela i ely as e wa e abso p ion kine ics as 462 compa ed o glu en-based bioplas ics p ocessed by comp ession molding (unpublished 463 esul s). In addi ion, an inc ease in AP con en induces a p og essi e dec ease in wa e 464 abso p ion up o hal he alue co esponding o he AP ee sample. I may be poin ed 465 ou ha his las alue is much lowe han hose p e iously epo ed (Je ez e al., 466 2007a) o simila AP/GL samples. Howe e , hese samples used highe AP/GL a io (2 467 ins ead o 1.5) and we e p epa ed by comp ession molding. Al hough he o me ac 468 may induce some changes, he abo e-men ioned di e ence in wa e up ake capaci y 469 may be mainly a ibu ed o he di e en he momechanical p ocessing condi ions used. 470 In ac , as epo ed by Je ez e al. (2007a), an inc ease in p essu e led o a ema kable 471 educ ion in wa e abso p ion. 472 On he o he hand, he ac ha AP-based bioplas ic display lowe abso p ion 473 capaci y han SPI-based samples may be ela ed o a highe s uc u e deg ee o he 474 AP p o ein ma ix. This is consis en wi h he abo e-men ioned highe p o ein 475 c osslinking ob ained o AP/GL bioplas ic p obes as deduced om DMA and ensile 476 es s. This beha io is in ag eemen wi h hose esul s ound by o he au ho s 477 (Buonoco e e al., 2003; Zheng e al., 2003), who epo ed ha he swelling a io o 478 polyme ma ices dec ease wi h inc easing p o ein c osslinking. 479 As ega ds he wa e -soluble loss ma e he AP/GL sys em shows a alue o 40% 480 and all he SPI-con aining p obes exhibi alues ha a e sligh ly highe . These esul s 481 sugges ha he loss o soluble ma e co esponds basically o he highly hyd ophilic 482 glyce ol. In ac , all he samples con ain 40% GL. The ex a-loss ma e obse ed o 483 19 SPI-based samples should co espond o mois u e con en as well as o some p o ein 484 ha is no s ongly associa ed o he ne wo k s uc u e. 485 3.10. T anspa ency measu emen s 486 Fig. 7 shows he e olu ion o he ansmi ance index (IT) wi h inc easing AP 487 pe cen age in he o al p o ein con en o he injec ion molded bioplas ic p obe. Images 488 o each p obe a e also included in Fig. 7. The e olu ion o colo and anspa ency wi h 489 inc easing AP con en is appa en , leading o a ema kable inc ease in he alue o IT. 490 The alue ob ained o AP-based p obe is 46.8  0.4, being sligh ly lowe han he 491 alue co esponding o LDPE (54.0 ± 0.3) and 52% highe han ha o he SPI-based 492 p obe. Mo eo e , as may be no ed, addi ion o 25% AP causes he highes inc ease in 493 IT alue ep esen ing abou 63% o he o al inc ease in ansmi ance. 494 4. Concluding ema ks 495 AP concen a e shows highe solubili y han SPI. AP also shows highe sul hyd yl 496 g oups and disul ide bonds, as well as highe hyd ophobici y. The e o e, AP 497 concen a e e idences highe po en ials o he momechanical p ocessing han SPI. 498 Acco ding o he ex ac abili y analysis o p o ein concen a es and p o ein/GL 499 blends, some shea -induce e ec s ook place du ing he mixing p ocess al hough being 500 less no iceable o AP han o SPI sys ems. As a esul o he mixing p ocess, glyce ol 501 educed he glass ansi ion and dena u a ion empe a u es o a highe ex en when 502 SPI p o ein was used ins ead o AP. The combina ion o empe a u e amps and ime 503 sweep es s a selec ed empe a u e has demons a ed o be sui able echniques in 504 o de o selec ope a ion condi ions o injec ion molding. These p ocessing condi ions 505 ook in o accoun he mixed he moplas ic and he mose cha ac e o he p o ein 506 sys ems s udied whe e he con ibu ion o he la e is mo e ele an . 507 Bo h p o ein sys ems used alone o in combina ion yield bioplas ics ha can be 508 he momechanically p ocessed by injec ion molding, al hough showing lowe 509 20 heological and mechanical p ope ies han LDPE s anda ds, unde he selec ed 510 p ocessing condi ions. 511 A compa ison be ween AP and SPI-based injec ion molded bioplas ic specimens 512 e ealed ha he o me show highe iscoelas ic bending p ope ies and highe 513 uniaxial ensile p ope ies. Howe e , unde he selec ed condi ions, SPI s ill showed a 514 emaining he mose ing po en ial. In any case, as a consequence o he lowe 515 heological and mechanical p ope ies o he la e , SPI showed a highe wa e up ake 516 capaci y. 517 The esul s o ansmi ance pu o wa d ha injec ion molding may yield highly 518 anspa en p o ein-based polyme ic ma e ials by adding a mode a e p opo ion o AP 519 o he aw p o ein/plas icise blend. Some o hese ma e ials showed anspa ency 520 p ope ies ha we e e en compa able o LDPE plas ic ma e ials. These esul s a e 521 consis en wi h hose epo ed by o he p e ious esea che s ha used egg whi e- 522 based comp ession molded ma e ials. 523 Acknowledgemen s 524 This wo k is pa o a esea ch p ojec sponso ed by Andalousian Go e nmen , 525 (Spain) (p ojec TEP-6134) and by “Minis e io de Economía y Compe i i idad” om 526 Spanish Go e nmen (Re . MAT2011-29275-C02-02/01). The au ho s g a e ully 527 acknowledge hei inancial suppo . 528 Re e ences 529 ASTM, 2001. S anda d es me hod o plas ics: wa e abso p ion o plas ics. Designa ion D570-98. 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