Mechanical reinforcement of cellulose nanocrystals on biodegradable microcellular foams with melt-compounding process

Abstract

The polymeric foamed composites were developed from the biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) reinforced by the biomass-based cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) via the melt-compounding treatment. As the highly-crystalline and rigid nanoparticles, the presence of CNC in the polyester matrix can simultaneously enhance the flexural strength and flexural modulus of the foamed composites. With the addition of 5 wt% CNC, the flexural strength and modulus of the PBS foamed composite increased by 50 and 62.9 % in comparison with those of the neat foamed material. Furthermore, the introduction of the CNC significantly affected the cells morphology, structure and stability during the foaming process, which facilitated the increase of the cell density and the homogeneous cell size and distribution of the foamed composites. With the addition of 5 wt% azodicarbonamide as the chemical blowing agent and 5 wt% CNC as the bionanofillers, the foamed composite showed the increased cell density of 7.1 9 10 5 cell/ cm 3 , which was 69.1 % higher than that of the neat foamed material. The mechanical enhancement of the foamed composites was attributed to the nanoreinforcement of the CNC served as the stress transferring phase, and meanwhile the promising improvement on the cells structure and stability for the foamed composites was ascribed to the effect of the CNC acted as the nucleation component.

Morphology, thermal, and crystallization properties of poly(butylene succinate)‐grafted Nanocrystalline Cellulose by polymerization in situ

“…Nanocrystalline Cellulose (NCC), procured by cellulose acidolysis, has many attractive and excellent properties, such as nanoscale dimensions and large specific surface area as well as admirable mechanical strength and modulus, which have attracted great consideration for use in polymer nanocomposites . In addition, NCC is biodegradable and renewable, which makes it a perfect agent for enhancing biobased materials and biodegradable polyesters, such as poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) , and poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) , and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) . The most noted dicarboxylic acid‐derived polymer is PBS, which exhibits brilliant mechanical capabilities, processibility, and biodegradability .…”

Morphology, crystallization and rheological behavior in poly(butylene succinate)/cellulose nanocrystal nanocomposites fabricated by solution coagulation

“…Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC), obtained from partial acidolysis of cellulose, has many attractive intrinsic properties such as nanoscale dimensions, large surface area, high mechanical strength and modulus, thus has attracted a great deal of attentions in polymer nanocomposites (Habibi, Lucia, & Rojas, 2010). In addition, CNC is also biodegradable and sustainable, which makes it an ideal reinforcing agent for biobased and biodegradable polyesters such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA) (Fortunati, Peltzer, et al, 2012;Kamal & Khoshkava, 2015;Miao & Hamad, 2016), poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) (Hu, Lin, Chang, & Huang, 2015;Lin, Chen, Hu, & Huang, 2015;Lin, Yu, Chang, Li, & Huang, 2011), and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) (Yu, Yan, & Yao, 2014).…”

Cellulose Nanostructure-Based Biodegradable Nanocomposite Foams: A Brief Overview on the Recent Advancements and Perspectives

“…In a different study [100], compression-moulded PBS/CNC nanocomposite foams were prepared using a hot-press. Prior to compression moulding, PBS/CNC was melt-compounded with azodicarbonamide (AC) (CBA) and zinc oxide (ZnO) (blowing promoter) in an internal mixer at 120 °C with a rotating speed of 72 rpm for 15 min.…”