The team of Yao Jianmin, chief expert of Shanxi Agricultural University, has successfully developed a new type of ultra-thin fully biodegradable water-permeable mulch film with a thickness of only 0.006 mm, a weather resistance period of up to about 120 days, and mechanical properties that far exceed national standards.Fully biodegradable mulch film is regarded as an important direction to replace traditional polyethylene (PE) mulch film and eliminate agricultural non-point source white pollution. The mulch film is mainly made of raw materials such as carbon dioxide-based synthesized branched polycarbonate (PPC), petroleum-based synthesized biodegradable resin (PBAT), and biomass-based synthesized polylactic acid resin (PLA).
Yao Jianmin introduced,Due to the higher density of fully biodegradable resin, compared with traditional PE materials, the coverable area of mulch film is reduced by approximately 20.63% at the same thickness. At present, conventional production processes can only produce fully biodegradable mulch films with a thickness of about 0.01 mm and a weather resistance period of about 90 days. This also makes the cost per unit area relatively high and restricts its promotion.
To solve this problem, the research team introduced carbon dioxide-based branched polypropylene carbonate (PPC) and polycarbonate (PCU) developed by the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and added an efficient photolysis-resistant water seepage additive developed by Shanxi Weitong Permeable Membrane Biotechnology Co., Ltd., supplemented by biodegradable materials such as PBAT and PLA, and finally successfully developed an ultra-thin fully biodegradable permeable mulch film.
"The thickness of the new mulch film developed this time is 40% lower than that of conventional products, and the cost per mu is correspondingly reduced by 40%, which is equivalent to the cost per mu of 0.015 mm high-strength thickened PE mulch film." Yao Jianmin said,This 0.006 mm thick ultra-thin fully biodegradable permeable mulch film can be completely degraded in the natural environment, eliminating the need for recycling processes. It also has good water permeability properties, which helps to efficiently utilize rainfall resources, achieves the dual goals of cost saving, efficiency improvement and environmental protection, and provides a feasible path for the promotion and application of fully biodegradable mulch films.
