The role of amphiphilic chitosan in hybrid nanocellulose–reinforced polylactic acid biocomposite

Abstract

The blending of hydrophilic materials with hydrophobic polymers has been reported with agglomeration due to their functional group immiscibility properties. In this study, the properties of PLA/CNF biocomposite were enhanced with amphiphilic chitosan produced by a substitution reaction. The substitution reaction was studied with FT‐IR analysis. The amphiphilic chitosan was used as part of the matrix PLA/chitosan and reinforced with CNF to obtain PLA/chitosan/CNF biocomposite using combined melt extrusion and compression molding technique. The morphology and structural bonding of amphiphilic chitosan added in the biocomposite were studied with SEM, XRD, and FT‐IR. Furthermore, the mechanical, thermal, and wettability properties of PLA/chitosan/CNF composite were studied with tensile analysis, thermogravimetry analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, water absorption, thickness swelling, and contact angle test. The preparation of the amphiphilic chitosan was successful, as observed from the FT‐IR functional group analysis. The PLA/chitosan/CNF biocomposite properties showed a significant enhancement in the miscibility, mechanical, and thermal properties with no agglomeration. The wettability test also showed that the composite has a reduced hydrophobic nature compared with the neat PLA. The PLA/chitosan/CNF properties showed potential use for packaging application.

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Isolation of Cellulose Nanofibre and Enhancement Properties in Biopolymer Composites

“…Furthermore, the swelling thickness of PLA/chitin/CNF (i.e., P90101, P90103, and P90105) increased with the addition of CNF, which can be explained by the hydrophilic nature of CNF. Generally, swelling thickness observed in this study depended on the polymer mix's nature and the porosity (the voids or space) between the polymer mix molecules [51]. The value of the percentage thickness of swelling was relatively low, which shows that the biocomposite has low porosity and is highly resistant to water [53].…”

“…The thickness of the PLA/chitin and PLA/chitin/CNF increased compared with that of the neat PLA. Neat PLA has a lower swelling thickness [51]. The PLA-chitin composite increase compares to that of neat PLA.…”

Innovative Conversion of PretreatedBuxus sinicainto High-Performance Biocomposites for Potential Use as Furniture Material

“…In the XRD test of RW and biocomposites (Figure e), the types of fiber crystals in the samples show no changes after extraction, alkali treatment, and hot molding. The major peaks were assigned at 2θ = 18.4, 22, and 34.8°, which correspond to the reflections of (101), (002), and (004) . The (002) reflection was the main crystallization peak of cellulose I.…”

“…The major peaks were assigned at 2θ = 18.4, 22, and 34.8°, which correspond to the reflections of (101), (002), and (004). 79 The (002) reflection was the main crystallization peak of cellulose I. The fiber crystallinity index (CrI) of the sample calculated by the Segal empirical equation shows that the fiber crystallinity of HMRW was the lowest, while HMPW shows the highest value.…”

Preparation and optimization of chemically modified corn straw/chitosan/PLA composite using RSM

“…It is commercially available and could be considered as an option for recombination with PLA to reduce the cost of novel composites (Claro et al 2016;Kanani et al 2021;Elsawy et al 2023;Kamaludin et al 2023). Previous research on PLA/chitin bio-composites showed that chitosan could be blended with PLA to improve its mechanical properties (Nasution et al 2021;Rizal et al 2021). Claro et al 2016 have obtained PLA-chitosan blends by mixing PLA pellets with either 1 to 2 mm chitosan granules without the addition of plasticizers or additives to synthesize composites with improved thermal and mechanical properties.…”