Highly Loaded Cellulose/Poly (butylene succinate) Sustainable Composites for Woody-Like Advanced Materials Application

Abstract

We report the manufacturing and characterization of poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) and micro cellulose (MCC) woody-like composites. These composites can be applied as a sustainable woody-like composite alternative to conventional fossil polymer-based wood-plastic composites (WPC). The PBS/MCC composites were prepared by using a melt blending of 70 wt% of MCC processed from bleached softwood. MCC was modified to enhance dispersion and compatibility by way of carbodiimide (CDI), polyhydroxy amides (PHA), alkyl ester (EST), (3-Aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS), maleic acid anhydride (MAH), and polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate (PMDI). The addition of filler into PBS led to a 4.5-fold improvement of Young’s modulus E for the MCC composite, in comparison to neat PBS. The 1.6-fold increase of E was obtained for CDI modified composition in comparison to the unmodified MCC composite. At room temperature, the storage modulus E′ was found to improve by almost 4-fold for the APTMS composite. The EST composite showed a pronounced enhancement in viscoelasticity properties due to the introduction of flexible long alkyl chains in comparison to other compositions. The glass transition temperature was directly affected by the composition and its value was −15 °C for PBS, −30 °C for EST, and −10 °C for MAH composites. FTIR indicated the generation of strong bonding between the polymer and cellulose components in the composite. Scanning electron microscopy analysis evidenced the agglomeration of the MCC in the PBS/MCC composites. PMDI, APTMS, and CDI composites were characterized by the uniform dispersion of MCC particles and a decrease of polymer crystallinity. MCC chemical modification induced the enhancement of the thermal stability of MCC composites.

Bio-Based Poly(butylene succinate)/Microcrystalline Cellulose/Nanofibrillated Cellulose-Based Sustainable Polymer Composites: Thermo-Mechanical and Biodegradation Studies

“…The insights presented in this research have been combined with literature analysis to present a discussion for selection of the filler. The MCC application in powder form makes it suitable for melt processing, showing good filler dispersion in varied concentration even up to 70 wt % [ 50 ]. Thus, the micro sized cellulose fillers offer economic, environmental benefits and are suitable for conventional melt processing methods.…”

“…Microcrystalline cellulose was prepared from bleached wood pulp using a method reported by the authors [ 50 ]. This method consists of wood pulp treatment with hydrochloric acid followed by filtration and washing with distilled water, drying and dry powder milling of the cellulose for 15 h. The SEM image shows MCC particles with a size from 20 to 40 μm ( Figure 1 a).…”

The Effect of Air, Ar and O2 Plasmas on the Electrical Resistivity and Hand-Feel Properties of Polyester/Cotton Blend Fabric

“…For this reason, the developing peaks of the P/C blend fabric are similar to the peaks of pure PET fabric. The peaks emerging in the ATR-FTIR spectra at 1712, 1242 and 721 cm −1 can be assigned to the chemical nature of the PET fiber [3,36,37], whereas peaks observed at 3330 and 2902 cm −1 can be associated to both PET and cotton in the blend. Nevertheless, the absorption bands and their functional groups of plasma treated and untreated P/C blend fiber ATR-FTIR spectrum is presented below in Table 1 [38].…”

The Impact of Filler Geometry on Polylactic Acid-Based Sustainable Polymer Composites

“…Further groups are polymers obtained by chemical synthesis: one from renewable sources (polylactic acid—PLA) and the other from various chemicals (e.g., polyvinyl alcohol, polyglycolic acid or polycaprolactone) [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Biopolymers are materials widely and extensively studied by scientists around the world for numerous applications, including as a potential polymer matrix for durable and biodegradable polymer composites [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. One of the most widely used biodegradable polymers, which can also be described as environmentally sustainable, is polylactic acid [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”