The objective of the work was to investigate the effects of gamma irradiation at absorbed dose of 75 kGy on the chemical structure and crystallinity of PHBV/PLA blend (50/50 w/w) without and with Cloisite 30B (C30B) incorporated at 3 wt %. IRTF spectra showed that gamma irradiation induced changes in the chemical structure of PHBV/PLA blends due to oxidation reactions involving the transformation of ester groups to hydroperoxides. However, the addition of C30B in the polymer blend had no influence on the nature of the degradation process. GPC data showed that the value of the average number of chain scission (nt) of irradiated PHBV/PLA/C30B sample is lower than that of the virgin blend highlighting the role of C30B as a retardant of the chain scission mechanism. WAXS analysis indicated an increase in the crystallinity of all irradiated samples at 75 kGy.

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