Antioxidant and antibacterial effects of natural phenolic compounds on green composite materials

Abstract The aim of this study is to establish the thermal performance of a biocomposite (Arbofill kokos®), stabilized with different natural phenolic additives, to check the antioxidant capacity of the resulting compounds. Different phenolic compounds (thymol, carvacrol, α‐tocopherol, and tannic acid) were used as biobased additives and the concentrations ranged between 0.5 wt% and 2 wt%. The results obtained were compared with formulations containing a typical industrial petroleum‐based antioxidant agent (octadecyl‐3‐(3,5‐di‐tert‐butyl‐4‐hydroxyphenyl) propionate). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize the antioxidant performance of the selected natural additives. The antimicrobial effect of these natural phenolic compounds was also studied by analyzing the growth of bacterial colonies. The comparison between the natural phenolic compounds and the petroleum‐based antioxidant compound showed good antioxidant action for natural phenolic compounds; in all the mixtures of biocomposite and antioxidant agent the oxidation onset temperature (OOT) increased in a remarkable way, but the highest stabilization effect was achieved with α‐tocopherol with provides a % increase on OOT of about 45%. With regard to antibacterial activity of the different natural phenolic compounds, thymol, and carvacrol showed interesting antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus aureus . POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers