Biodegradable Fiber Elaboration from PLA, PBAT, and Cactus Stem

The methodology for fiber elaboration was proposed by Black-Solis et al. [12 (link)] and Correa-Pacheco et al. [13 (link)]. The fibers were extruded from a mixture of two biodegradable polymers: PLA (IngeoTM Biopolymer 7001D, NatureWorks, LLC, Blair, NE, USA) and PBAT (Ecoflex^® F Blend C1200, BASF, Mexico City, Mexico) in a 60/40 ratio (PLA/PBAT), and cactus stem flour at 3% using canola oil (Valley Foods^®, Michoacán, Mexico) at 4% as a plasticizer. For the extrusion, a twin-screw extruder (Process 11, Thermo Scientific™, Waltham, MA, USA) was used with a temperature profile of 160/160/170/180/190/190/160 °C. The fibers were then cooled in water. The 60/40 pellets were dried at 60 °C for 24 h in a conventional oven prior to extrusion. A peristaltic pump (MasterFlex C/L, Cole-Parmer, Vernon Hills, IL, USA) was used for the addition of the cactus stem flour to the second port of the extruder.