UC San Diego

Petroleum-based plastic waste plagues the natural environment, but plastics solve many high-performance solutions across industries. For example, porous polymer membranes are used for air filtration, advanced textiles, energy, and biomedical applications. Sustainable and biodegradable Bioplastic membranes can compete with nonrenewable materials in strength, durability, and functionality but biodegrade under select conditions after disposal. Membranes electrospun using a blend of bioderived thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and polylactic acid (PLA) perform effectively under tensile and cyclic loading, act adequately as an air filter media, and biodegrade in a home-compost environment, with the aliphatic formulation of TPU showing greater biodegradability compared to the formulation containing aromatic moieties. Blending TPU with PLA dramatically increases the strain at break of the PLA membrane, while the addition of PLA in TPU stiffens the material considerably. Measurements of the pressure drop and filtration efficiency deem this electrospun membrane an effective air filter. This membrane provides a solution to the need for quality air filtration while decreasing the dependence on petroleum feedstocks and addressing the issue of plastic disposal through biodegradation.