Open Access

ARTICLE

Preparation and Characterization of the Nanocomposites from Chemically Modified Nanocellulose and Poly(lactic acid)

Liqing Wei¹, Shupin Luo², Armando G. McDonald², Umesh P. Agarwal¹, Kolby C. Hirth¹, Laurent M. Matuana³, Ronald C. Sabo^1* , Nicole M. Stark^1*

1 USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, One Gifford Pinchot Drive, Madison, WI 53726, United States
2 Renewable Materials Program, Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-1132, United States
3 School of Packaging, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States

*Corresponding authors: ;

Journal of Renewable Materials 2017, 5(5), 410-422. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2017.634144

Abstract

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are renewable and sustainable filler for polymeric nanocomposites. However, their high hydrophilicity limits their use with hydrophobic polymer for composite materials. In this study, freeze-dried CNCs were modified by transesterification with canola oil fatty acid methyl ester to reduce the hydrophilicity. The transesterified CNCs (CNCFE) were compounded with PLA into nanocomposites. CNCFE with long-chain hydrocarbons plays a role as plasticizer. Increasing CNCFE loadings resulted in clear plasticizing effects. Lower Tg and Tm were achieved for CNCFE-based nanocomposites. Plasticizing nanocomposite melt with CNCFE can mitigate the degradation of CNCs during thermal processing. The elongation at break of nanocomposites containing 5% CNCFE was increased. Dynamic rheological study showed the highest elastic and viscous moduli (G′ and G″) and complex viscosity (G*) of nanocomposites with addition of 2% CNCFE. By tailoring the loadings of the transesterified CNCs, tunable structure and properties of nanocomposites can be obtained.

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Keywords

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