Comparison Study of the Bio-degradation Property of Polylactic Acid (PLA) Green Composites Reinforced by Kenaf Fibers

Abstract

Degradation of polylactic acid (PLA) was studied to investigate the best method of degradation to assist in reducing environmental pollution. Two condition of testing were conducted, which are natural weathering and landfill burial test. The rate of degradation was determined by weight loss, which was calculated once a month for six months. Natural weathering was achieved by exposing the samples to the natural environment, and this method was adopted according to ASTM D1435. Landfill burial testing was conducted by adopting ASTM G160-12 with a few modifications. The result shows that degradation was faster in a landfill burial condition. This was determined by the calculated weight loss, which was 2-4% of the total weight loss of PLA and its composites after six months' exposure to a natural weathering environment. In contrast, the landfill burial condition showed 4-17% weight loss after six months. The addition of natural fiber, whether bast or core fiber, assisted in the degradation of the composites. As well, the addition of natural fiber led to a 0.3-1.3% higher weight loss among the composites compared to neat PLA following natural weathering, while an 11-13% weight loss was recorded for composites exposed to the landfill burial condition. Natural weathering and landfill burial testing provide a time frame for the degradation of composite products. This is a good information for commercial composting facilities, providing data on the time frame required for material biodegradation.

Preparation and Characterization of Sansevieria trifasciata Fiber/High-Impact Polypropylene and Sansevieria trifasciata Fiber/Vinyl Ester Biocomposites for Automotive Applications

“…Biocomposites offer many advantages, such as high strength, low weight, biodegradability, corrosion resistance, and low cost (Sreenivasan et al, 2011;Najafi, 2013). Natural fibers are also biodegradable because they attract microorganisms (Surip and Jaafar, 2018). Some products for instance sports equipment, electronic housing or vehicle panel have been reported to use natural fibers, such as hemp, banana, kenaf, wood, and pulp fibers (Miléo et al, 2011;Faruk et al, 2012;Suharty et al, 2016;Ramesh et al, 2017;Sharath Shekar and Ramachandra, 2018).…”

Effect of different starch contents on physical, morphological, mechanical, barrier, and biodegradation properties of tapioca starch and poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) blend film

“…Based on Figures 5B and 6, the weight loss of sample is increased as TPS content increased from 0%, 20%, 40%, 50%, and 60%. In addition, plant roots and soil worms exist in the real soil condition had further facilitate materials' fragmentations and disintegrations contributing to higher weight loss 39 …”

“…In addition, plant roots and soil worms exist in the real soil condition had further facilitate materials' fragmentations and disintegrations contributing to higher weight loss. 39 However, as seen in Figure 6, PBAT sample shows significant disintegration into small flakes after 9th months duration under natural weathering compared PBAT/TPS (80/20) samples. This is probably due to the simultaneous chain scission and crosslinking, which happened in the photodegradation of PBAT and PBAT/TPS blends.…”

Composite Multiaxial Mechanics: Laminate Design Optimization of Taper-Less Wind Turbine Blades with Ramie Fiber-Reinforced Polylactic Acid

“…For example, PLA underwent a 92% decrease in tensile strength (Varsavas and Kaynak, 2018). Additionally, the water absorption will increase, and the microorganisms will be attracted by the addition of natural fibers in PLA composites, which will assist in the hydrolysis of polymers and enhance the degradation rate of the composites (Surip et al, 2018). This indicates that PLA has good biodegradability.…”