3D‐printed wood‐polylactic acid‐thermoplastic starch composites: Performance features in relation to biodegradation treatment

Abstract

In view of the current public concern about microplastics, biodegradability of 3D‐printed polymeric materials is an important issue. In this work, we studied the effects of soil‐burial biodegradation treatment on wood‐polylactic acid (PLA) blends with three different thermoplastic starch (TPS) contents (i.e., 0, 10, and 20 wt%). The wood‐PLA‐TPS composites were 3D‐printed through the fused deposition modeling technique. The use of TPS led to reduced mechanical properties and thermal stability of the composites. Biodeterioration of the composites was clearly observed for the composite with high TPS content after the soil burial test. Thermal decomposition temperature, activation energy, and degree of crystallinity of biodegradation treated composites increased for composites with higher TPS content. The observed behavior was due to decomposed TPS and wood in the composites from biodegradation treatment, resulting in increase in the relative PLA content level. Also, the weight loss percentage of composites increased from 3.2% to 18.5% after the soil burial test as the TPS content in the composites increased from 0 to 20 wt%. The presence of TPS and wood helped improve the biodegradation of the 3D printed PLA composites, while PLA itself is not easily bio‐degraded.

Three-Dimensional Printing of Multifunctional Composites: Fabrication, Applications, and Biodegradability Assessment

“…The activity of microorganisms initiates surface changes and allows access to the inner areas of the print, which promotes swelling and makes more space available in the composites. It has also been observed that the degree of filling of the material supports accelerated degradation [207]. Similar observations have been reported for PLA by adding rice hulls [208].…”

Mechanical, Thermal and Microstructural Characteristic of 3D Printed Polylactide Composites with Natural Fibers: Wood, Bamboo and Cork

“…Moreover, because fibers such as lignocellulose are hydrophilic in nature, the addition of fillers containing these fibers accelerates the process of water absorption into biodegradable composites [16]. To date, only a few studies have been published on the negative impact of water on the mechanical properties of 3D-printed polymer materials, including factors such as the degree of crystallization, degree of infilling, and addition of natural fillers [17].…”

A comprehensive review on natural fillers reinforced polymer composites using fused deposition modeling

“…Composites made of PLA, wood, and TPS (corn starch) were examined for water absorption and biodegradation tests. [ 157 ] The authors created three distinct composites with varying TPS content (0%, 10%, and 20%). For TPS composites, glycerol was employed as a bidding agent.…”

“…[60] In past decades, the devolvement of new material called composite for FDM is increased because of its reasonable strength and durability. [61,67,144,157] However, composite materials fabricated through conventional manufacturing (Injection molding, RTM, compression molding, etc.) performed better than pure polymers.…”