TY  - EJOU
AU  - Sejati, Prabu Satria 
AU  - Magne, Adrien 
AU  - Froment, Luke 
AU  - Afrim, Jennifer 
AU  - Maenhaut, Alexandre 
AU  - Maillet, Julie 
AU  - Akong, Firmin Obounou 
AU  - Fradet, Frédéric 
AU  - Gérardin, Philippe 

TI  - Structural and Mechanical Properties of Bio-Sourced Thermoplastic Materials from Flax and Fatty Acids
T2  - Journal of Renewable Materials

PY  - 2025
VL  - 13
IS  - 3
SN  - 2164-6341

AB  - 
Bio-based thermoplastic film from flax fiber and fatty acid (FA) was obtained using trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) as an impelling agent. Different quantities of TFAA/FA, size of flax fiber, and fatty acids were applied to investigate chemical structure in relation to the mechanical properties. Decreasing the quantity of TFAA/FA by almost half from 1:4 to 1:2.5 (flax to TFAA/FA) only reduces by 22% the weight percent gain (WPG) and ester content and reducing flax fiber size slightly increases the WPG and ester content. All the treatments showed significant chemical structure modification, observed by FTIR and solid CP/MAS <sup>13</sup>C NMR, confirming the presence of carbonyl ester groups and alkyl chains, in relatively similar intensities. The crystallinity index (CrI) of esterified flax was evaluated by comparing the signal of solid CP/MAS <sup>13</sup>C NMR in crystalline and amorphous regions and CrI was higher in esterified flax using a lower quantity of reagent and longer fatty acid. Esterified flax in a high quantity of reagent showed ductile or flexible behavior. Decreasing the reagent to 1:2.5 significantly increases the tensile strength and Young’s modulus, and decreases the elongation at break, presenting more brittle and stiff material. Using flax fiber in the original size results in slightly higher tensile strength and Young’s modulus and slightly lower elongation than milled flax. The tensile strength and Young’s modulus of stearic acid esterified flax obtained in this research were higher than myristic acid and comparable to the polyethylene plastics-LDPE and HDPE.
KW  - Thermoplastic; flax; esterification; chemical properties; mechanical properties

DO  - 10.32604/jrm.2024.056813