Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB): Production, Properties, Modification Strategies, Additive Manufacturing, Biodegradation, and Applications

Growing environmental concerns over petroleum-based plastics have increased interest in sustainable and biodegradable alternatives such as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). PHB is a naturally produced biopolymer synthesized by microorganisms and is widely recognized for its biodegradability, biocompatibility, renewability, and thermoplastic properties. Despite these advantages, PHB use remains limited by brittleness, high crystallinity, low thermal stability, a narrow processing window, and high production costs. This review discusses the production, properties, biodegradation behavior, and applications of PHB, with a focus on strategies to improve its performance. Modification approaches, including copolymerization, polymer blending, filler reinforcement, plasticization, and hybrid composite formulation, are critically reviewed to evaluate their effects on the thermal, mechanical, and processing behavior of PHB-based materials. The review also highlights recent developments in additive manufacturing, particularly fused deposition modeling/fused filament fabrication (FDM/FFF) for the extrusion of biodegradable PHB composite filaments. In addition, the biodegradation of PHB under various environmental conditions, including soil, compost, freshwater, marine, aerobic, and anaerobic environments, are discussed. Current challenges, research gaps, commercialization barriers, and future opportunities related to sustainable feedstocks, advanced composites, additive manufacturing, and circular economy integration are addressed. Overall, PHB shows strong potential as a sustainable alternative for packaging, biomedical, agricultural, and three-dimensional (3D) printing applications.