TY - JOUR
T1 - The Impact of Filler Geometry on Polylactic Acid-Based Sustainable Polymer Composites
AU - Leluk, Karol
AU - Frąckowiak, Stanisław
AU - Ludwiczak, Joanna
AU - Rydzkowski, Tomasz
AU - Thakur, Vijay Kumar
PY - 2020/12/31
Y1 - 2020/12/31
N2 - Recently, biocomposites have emerged as materials of great interest to the scientists and industry around the globe. Among various polymers, polylactic acid (PLA) is a popular matrix material with high potential for advanced applications. Various particulate materials and nanoparticles have been used as the filler in PLA based matrix. One of the extensively studied filler is cellulose. However, cellulose fibres, due to their hydrophilic nature, are difficult to blend with a hydrophobic polymer matrix. This leads to agglomeration and creates voids, reducing the mechanical strength of the resulting composite. Moreover, the role of the various forms of pure cellulose and its particle shape factors has not been analyzed in most of the current literature. Therefore, in this work, materials of various shapes and shape factors were selected as fillers for the production of polymer composites using Polylactic acid as a matrix to fill this knowledge gap. In particular, pure cellulose fibres (three types with different elongation coefficient) and two mineral nanocomponents: precipitated calcium carbonate and montmorillonite were used. The composites were prepared by a melt blending process using two different levels of fillers: 5% and 30%. Then, the analysis of their thermomechanical and physico-chemical properties was carried out. The obtained results were presented graphically and discussed in terms of their shape and degree of filling.
AB - Recently, biocomposites have emerged as materials of great interest to the scientists and industry around the globe. Among various polymers, polylactic acid (PLA) is a popular matrix material with high potential for advanced applications. Various particulate materials and nanoparticles have been used as the filler in PLA based matrix. One of the extensively studied filler is cellulose. However, cellulose fibres, due to their hydrophilic nature, are difficult to blend with a hydrophobic polymer matrix. This leads to agglomeration and creates voids, reducing the mechanical strength of the resulting composite. Moreover, the role of the various forms of pure cellulose and its particle shape factors has not been analyzed in most of the current literature. Therefore, in this work, materials of various shapes and shape factors were selected as fillers for the production of polymer composites using Polylactic acid as a matrix to fill this knowledge gap. In particular, pure cellulose fibres (three types with different elongation coefficient) and two mineral nanocomponents: precipitated calcium carbonate and montmorillonite were used. The composites were prepared by a melt blending process using two different levels of fillers: 5% and 30%. Then, the analysis of their thermomechanical and physico-chemical properties was carried out. The obtained results were presented graphically and discussed in terms of their shape and degree of filling.
KW - calcium carbonate
KW - cellulose fibres
KW - montmorillonite
KW - polylactic acid composites
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099331854&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/molecules26010149
DO - 10.3390/molecules26010149
M3 - Article
C2 - 33396332
SN - 1420-3049
VL - 26
JO - Molecules
JF - Molecules
IS - 1
M1 - 149
ER -