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The research leading to these results has received funding from the commissioned task
entitled ‘VIA CARPATIA Universities of Technology Network named after the President of the
Republic of Poland Lech Kaczy ´nski’, under the special purpose grant from the Minister of Science,
contracts no. MEiN/2022/DPI/2575, MEiN/2022/DPI/2577, MEiN/2022/DPI/2578 as part of the
action ‘ISKRA—building inter-university research teams’.
The growing demand for products made of polymeric materials, including the com-
monly used polypropylene (PP), is accompanied by the problem of storing and disposing of non-
biodegradable waste, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and the creation of toxic
products that constitute a health hazard of all living organisms. Moreover, most of the synthetic
polymers used are made from petrochemical feedstocks from non-renewable resources. The use of
petrochemical raw materials also causes degradation of the natural environment. A potential solution
to these problems is the use of biopolymers. Biopolymers include biodegradable or biosynthesizable
polymers, i.e., obtained from renewable sources or produced synthetically but from raw materials of
natural origin. One of them is the poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) biopolymer, whose properties are
comparable to PP. Unfortunately, it is necessary to modify its properties to improve its processing and
operational properties. In the work, hybrid polymer nanobiocomposites based on P3HB, with the ad-
dition of chain, uncross-linked polyurethane (PU) and layered aluminosilicate modified with organic
salts (Cloisite®30B) were produced by extrusion process. The introduction of PU and Cloisite®30B
to the polymer matrix (P3HB) influenced the processing parameters beneficially and resulted in a
decrease in the extrusion temperature of more than 10 ◦C. The influence of the simultaneous addition
of a constant amount of PU (10 m/m%) and the different amounts of nanoadditives (1, 2 and 3 m/m%)
on the compatibility, morphology and static mechanical properties of the resulted nanobiocomposites
were examined. The component interactions by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
analysis, nano- and microscale structure studies using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and
morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were carried out, and the hardness and tensile
strength of the obtained polymer nanobiocomposites were determined. FTIR analysis identified
the compatibility of the polyester matrix, PU, and organomodified montmorillonite, the greatest
being 3 m/m% Cloisite30B content. The addition of PU to the polyester elasticizes the material and
decreases the material’s strength and ductility. The presence of nanoclay enhanced the mechanical
properties of nanobiocomposites. The resulting nanobiocomposites can be used in the production of
short-life materials applied in gardening or agriculture.
