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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Polymers

Data-Driven Design of PLA/PBAT/MCC/HA Composites for Biodegradable Mulch Films

  • Nikki Rodriguez1
  • Wei Ding1
  • Lekhana Sandra2
  • Camila Martinez1
  • Riddhi Deepak1
  • Ilya Gelfand3
  • Osnat Gillor4
  • Murat Guvendiren1,5
  • Lisa Axe1
5 affiliations
  1. 1Otto H. York Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, New Jersey Institute of Technology, 138 Warren Street, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
  2. 2Department of Data Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, 138 Warren Street, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
  3. 3The French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel
  4. 4Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sde Boker Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel
  5. 5Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, 138 Warren Street, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
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Abstract

Conventional low-density poly(ethylene) (LDPE) agricultural mulch films generate persistent plastic waste, which has motivated the development of biodegradable mulch films (BDMs) that can provide adequate performance during use while offering improved end-of-life options. Here, composite films containing poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), and hydroxyapatite (HA) were evaluated for their material properties and suitability as agricultural mulches. Correlation analysis and Elastic Net regression were used to examine composition–property relationships. PBAT primarily governed ductility and tensile performance, whereas MCC significantly increased water absorption because of its hydrophilic character. Water absorption was the most reliably modeled response (training R2 = 0.893), while mechanical property models showed limited validation performance, which indicates that composition alone could not fully predict unseen formulations. Several formulations met commercial BDM mechanical requirements. Multi-objective optimization predicted a composition of 9.3/80.7/3.5/6.5 wt% PLA/PBAT/MCC/HA. The combined experimental and modeling framework clarifies composition–property relationships in biodegradable polymer composites and demonstrates how data-driven approaches can guide the formulation of biodegradable agricultural mulch films.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{rodriguez2026datadriven,
  title = {{Data-Driven Design of PLA/PBAT/MCC/HA Composites for Biodegradable Mulch Films}},
  author = {Nikki Rodriguez and Wei Ding and Lekhana Sandra and Camila Martinez and Riddhi Deepak and Ilya Gelfand and Osnat Gillor and Murat Guvendiren and Lisa Axe},
  journal = {Polymers},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3390/polym18212617},
  url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2617},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Data-Driven Design of PLA/PBAT/MCC/HA Composites for Biodegradable Mulch Films
AU  - Nikki Rodriguez
AU  - Wei Ding
AU  - Lekhana Sandra
AU  - Camila Martinez
AU  - Riddhi Deepak
AU  - Ilya Gelfand
AU  - Osnat Gillor
AU  - Murat Guvendiren
AU  - Lisa Axe
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/22
JO  - Polymers
DO  - 10.3390/polym18212617
UR  - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2617
AB  - Conventional low-density poly(ethylene) (LDPE) agricultural mulch films generate persistent plastic waste, which has motivated the development of biodegradable mulch films (BDMs) that can provide adequate performance during use while offering improved end-of-life options. Here, composite films containing poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), and hydroxyapatite (HA) were evaluated for their material properties and suitability as agricultural mulches. Correlation analysis and Elastic Net regression were used to examine composition–property relationships. PBAT primarily governed ductility and tensile performance, whereas MCC significantly increased water absorption because of its hydrophilic character. Water absorption was the most reliably modeled response (training R2 = 0.893), while mechanical property models showed limited validation performance, which indicates that composition alone could not fully predict unseen formulations. Several formulations met commercial BDM mechanical requirements. Multi-objective optimization predicted a composition of 9.3/80.7/3.5/6.5 wt% PLA/PBAT/MCC/HA. The combined experimental and modeling framework clarifies composition–property relationships in biodegradable polymer composites and demonstrates how data-driven approaches can guide the formulation of biodegradable agricultural mulch films.
SN  - 2073-4360
ER  -