Spent Artemisia arborescens as a Biowaste Filler for Melt‐Processed PBSA Biocomposites With Enhanced Disintegration and Aerobic Biodegradation
Abstract
Artemisia arborescens is a Mediterranean shrub widely used for essential oil production, generating significant amounts of spent biomass after extraction. This spent biomass, often underutilized, represents a valuable resource for sustainable biocomposites. This study focuses on the development of biocomposites using a biobased poly(butylene succinate‐ co ‐butylene adipate) (PBSA) as the matrix and spent Artemisia arborescens (AA) as a filler. Two filler loadings (10% and 20%) were incorporated via melt compounding using an internal batch mixer, followed by compression molding into sheets, and the resulting biocomposites were thoroughly characterized. The influence of AA incorporation on the rheological, mechanical, and thermal properties, as well as the degradation in compost and biodegradation behavior in a simulated aqueous environment, were investigated in comparison with neat PBSA. The incorporation of the filler led to a significant stiffening effect, with Young's modulus increasing from 198 to 312 MPa (+58%), accompanied by a drastic loss of ductility, as the elongation at break dropped from 331% to 12.6%. Furthermore, the filler accelerated both the biodegradation process at 25°C and disintegrability rate in compost at 58°C. Under composting conditions, biocomposites exhibited an 82%–87% mass loss after 30 days, compared to about 40% for neat PBSA, and showed nearly double biodegradation according to ISO 14851.