Manufacture of Nanocomposites Based On Microfibrillated Cellulose and Polylactic Acid

Abstract

This study evaluates the manufacturing process of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) reinforced PLA nanocomposites using a semi-crystalline grade of polylactic acid (PLA). The objective of this study was to obtain uniform dispersion of MFC in a PLA compound of semi-crystalline grade of PLA. The nanocomposites were prepared by mixing MFC and PLA in an organic solvent followed by drying, kneading and hot pressing into sheets. XRD was performed to evaluate crystallinity of the composites and DMA was used to evaluate mechanical properties (rigidity). We found that dichloromethane is effective to dissolve semi-crystalline grade PLA, a high-performance disperser can obtain well-dispersed suspension of composites, kneading process can homogenize the compound, and immersing in liquid N2 after hot pressingis effective to obtain amorphous state samples.