Development of nanocellulose-reinforced PLA nanocomposite by using maleated PLA (PLA-g-MA)

Abstract

The goal of this research was improving the mechanical and physical properties of poly lactic acid (PLA) using cellulose nanofiber (CNF) as reinforcing and maleated PLA (PLA-g-MA) as a compatibilizer. PLA/nanocellulose composites were prepared through melt mixing with maleated PLA (5 wt%) and two levels of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) (3 and 5 wt%) using twin screw extrusion. Nanocomposites fracture morphology, thermal properties, crystallization behavior, and mechanical behavior were determined as a function of cellulose nanofibers and PLA grafted on maleic anhydride content using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy, heat distortion temperature (HDT), impact, and tensile testing. The SEM micrographs confirmed the uniform dispersion of CNF within PLA matrix in the presence of maleated PLA. Among nanocellulose and compatibilizer, the latter one has better role in enhancement of nanocomposites HDT. Compatibilized nanocomposites (PLA/CNF5/PLAgMA5) exhibited maximum impact strength which was 131% higher than that of neat PLA. Compared to pure PLA, 138 and 40% improvements for the tensile strength and Young’s modulus can be obtained for the resulting nanocomposite with PLA/CNF5/PLAgMA5, respectively.

Tensile and morphological properties of nanocrystalline cellulose and nanofibrillated cellulose reinforcedPLAbionanocomposites: A review

“…A, Representative stress–strain curves for PLA and 1% wt NCC reinforced PLA nanocomposite, [ 191 ] B, Tensile stress–strain curves for PLA/nanocellulose composites [ 194 ] [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

“…Stress‐strain curves of PLA and PLA/NFC bionanocomposites (with and without compatibilizer) are presented in Figure 6B and the tensile properties values are summarized in Table 3 (see Reference 194). The results of tensile properties values, shown in Table 3, proved that the incorporation of NCF had improved the tensile strength and modulus, respectively, of PLA/NFC5 over pure PLA.…”

Effects of halloysite nanotube on the performance of natural fiber filled poly(lactic acid) composites

“…On the other hand, melt blending and addition of selected additives into PLA matrix, which comprise various kinds of fillers such as carbon nanotubes (CNT), nanoclays (zinc oxide, silver, etc. ), halloysite nanotubes (HNT), graphite derivatives, and cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is a highly effective and compatible method for fabrication of PLA nanocomposite in order to expand PLA's applications and to improve thermal, mechanical and barrier properties compared to other techniques . But, many modification techniques applied to enhance the drawbacks of PLA are neither simple to handle and nor eco‐friendly.…”

Poly(lactic acid)/Cellulose Films Produced from Composite Spheres Prepared by Emulsion-Solvent Evaporation Method

“…Various forms of cellulose have been explored as reinforcements into PLA composites. These include fibers from jute, kenaf, henequen, flax, cotton, bamboo [10,11,12,13,14,15,16], wood pulp [3,4,17], microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) [9,18,19] and, micro and nanocellulose in different forms and from different origins [8,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28]. Due to its hydrophilic nature, cellulose is not easily uniformly dispersed into hydrophobic PLA matrix which leads to poor interfacial adhesion, thus reducing the mechanical properties of the composites [16,18,22,23].…”