Mechanical and Physicochemical Properties of 3D-Printed Agave Fibers/Poly(lactic) Acid Biocomposites

Abstract

In order to provide a second economic life to agave fibers, an important waste material from the production of tequila, filaments based on polylactic acid (PLA) were filled with agave fibers (0, 3, 5, 10 wt%), and further utilized to produce biocomposites by fused deposition modeling (FDM)-based 3D printing at two raster angles (−45°/45° and 0/90°). Differential scanning calorimetry, water uptake, density variation, morphology, and composting of the biocomposites were studied. The mechanical properties of the biocomposites (tensile, flexural, and Charpy impact properties) were determined following ASTM international norms. The addition of agave fibers to the filaments increased the crystallinity value from 23.7 to 44.1%. However, the fibers generated porous structures with a higher content of open cells and lower apparent densities than neat PLA pieces. The printing angle had a low significant effect on flexural and tensile properties, but directly affected the morphology of the printed biocomposites, positively influenced the impact strength, and slightly improved the absorption values for biocomposites printed at −45°/45°. Overall, increasing the concentrations of agave fibers had a detrimental effect on the mechanical properties of the biocomposites. The disintegration of the biocomposites under simulated composting conditions was slowed 1.6-fold with the addition of agave fibers, compared to neat PLA.

A Review of Polymer-Based Materials for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF): Focus on Sustainability and Recycled Materials

“…Filaments made from recycled office paper show no degradation below 260 °C and it is suitable for 3D printing [ 120 ]. The paper of Velarde et al (2021) concerns the production of filaments for FFF, based on polylactic acid (PLA) and fibers from Agave leaves, a waste material from the production of tequila [ 116 ]. The authors compared the morphological, mechanical and thermal properties of filaments made of PLA and various percentages by weight of agave leaves (3, 5 and 10%), as well as studied the adaptability of the filament to printing via FFF, using two different raster angles (−45°/45°, 0°/90°).…”

“…The results reported in the paper indicate that the fiber content strongly influences the crystallinity (increases from 23.7 to 44.1%) and the porosity and the bending properties of the final biocomposites, while the raster angle influences more the morphology and the impact resistance of printed biocomposites. However, printed biocomposites appear to be suitable for the fabrication of 3D printed objects, thanks to the low cost, compostability, and low density [ 116 ].…”

Tensile Behavior of 3D Printed Polylactic Acid (PLA) Based Composites Reinforced with Natural Fiber

“…While the mechanical properties of NFRCs and WPCs fabricated by traditional methods such as extrusion or injection molding [ 20 , 22 ] have been extensively studied, the mechanical behavior of 3D printed PLA-based NFRCs and WPCs is still being investigated [ 5 , 20 , 23 ]. Figueroa-Velarde et al [ 24 ] investigated the tensile and flexural properties of 3D printed PLA reinforced with 3–10% agave fibers, which had a diameter of 37.7 µm and a length of 255 µm. They observed that both tensile modulus and strength decreased with the increase in fiber content compared to pure PLA.…”

Thermal and Sliding Wear Properties of Wood Waste-Filled Poly(Lactic Acid) Biocomposites

“…The major advantages of PLA are its biodegradability under certain temperature/pressure conditions and its non-toxic nature. It has good stiffness and strength compared with synthetic polymers, and it can be altered and adjusted for a wide range of applications, including packaging, textile, and biomedical purposes [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. However, PLA has its drawbacks as well, including rapid physical aging, poor impact resistance, relatively high price, and low thermal stability.…”